


Of Royalty and Romance

by MalecMarshmallow



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Fashion Designer Magnus, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Royal!Alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-06-04 15:29:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6664213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalecMarshmallow/pseuds/MalecMarshmallow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexander Lightwood is a member of the British Royal Family. Not like a major member. He was something like 25th in line for the throne, he didn’t really know, or really care. Magnus Bane is a recently graduated fashion major, trying to get his name out in the fashion industry. What happens when a fiery redhead introduces them at a party?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I always kinda liked Royalty AU's and this randomly came into my head one day  
> First chapter is just a little intro into the story, so no Magnus here yet, but he'll make his appearance soon enough!  
> I hope you guys like it!

There were no words to describe just how much of a bad decision this was. This was definitely the worst decision he had ever made in his whole life. Well, it wasn’t really _his_ decision... 

“Lydia Branwell, will you marry me, Alec Lightwood?”

Why did he let his parents, Maryse and Robert, dictate his life again? If he glanced to his left, he knew he would see them there, watching from a distance with Lydia’s parents too. 

Alec kept his gaze firmly planted on the woman in front of him, this was embarrassing enough as it was, without having to deal with everyone staring. Lydia didn’t look surprised, she knew this was coming just as Alec did. With a small, supportive smile, Lydia reached out to gently touch Alec’s outstretched hand. 

“Of course I’ll marry you.” 

Their families cheered together as Alec slid the engagement ring - that had been in the Lightwood family for who even knew how many generations - onto Lydia’s finger. 

It didn’t matter that neither of them wanted this. As he stood up and Lydia hugged him, he just hoped that they would be allowed a long engagement, he wanted to put off actually being married for as long as he could possibly get away with. 

It had all started about one year ago. There was some minor family scandal to do with Alec’s parents. He didn’t know what it was and he didn’t really care, but to his family, image was everything and they needed something to distract everyone else.

They might not be highest up in social circles, but they were still part of the Royal family. According to their mother, nothing ever should come in the way of upholding their perfect family image. 

Alec being gay was just something inconsequential to his parents. They knew, but chose to ignore it and push him down the more ‘traditional’ path.

So it was at that time Alec’s parents introduced him to Lydia. She was from a very respectable British family that had very good connections, and they had been close friends with the Lightwoods for many years. 

No one ever told them that were expected to start seeing each other, but Alec knew that was what his parents wanted. And his family was the most important thing. Besides, it was just dating. Not really that big of a deal.

He and Lydia had started tentatively seeing each other a week later. It wasn’t the kind of perfect relationship that everyone hopes for, they had no real romantic attachment to each other, they’d only tried kissing once, before deciding that it really just wasn’t for them. 

But, they played the part. Held hands in public and smiled for the cameras. It wasn’t that cameras were focused on them exactly, but Alec was part of, let’s face it, perhaps one of the most famous families in the world. So there were always cameras and reporters for the news. They had to show the world that they were a happy couple with happy families.

Everything was fine for a while, until Isabelle just couldn’t quite contain her rebellious nature. Isabelle was Alec’s younger sister, and he loved her dearly, but damn if she didn’t make his life ridiculously difficult. 

She had been photographed drunk in a club, grinding up against her on-off boyfriend, Meliorn. Maryse had been absolutely appalled, and to make matters worse, they were filmed arguing on campus at Isabelle’s university, which Alec was pretty sure had ended up on YouTube. And to put the cherry on top of the cake, Isabelle had moved out of her dorm room and into Meliorn’s off-campus flat. 

Maryse and Robert hadn’t spoken to her since and Alec was thrust into the mediator role between them. Then, after news of Isabelle had been on TV and the internet for two weeks, Alec was told in no uncertain terms that it was time for him to get engaged. 

It took Alec another week to work up the nerve to propose and even then he wasn’t really ready, but when everyone important was at a society garden party and his mother slipped the ring into his hand, Alec knew he didn’t have any other choice. If this was going to take the attention off Izzy, and keep his family together he knew he would do it. 

~~~

Izzy called him as soon as she heard. 

“Alec are you completely crazy?!” Alec winced as his sister screamed down the phone. 

“Izzy-”

“No Alec, why are you ruining your life like this? I’m coming over to your place now.”

“No wait, Izzy don’t! Lydia has friends over. Look, if you really want to talk, I’ll drop by Meliorn’s place, okay?” 

“Alright, but you’d better not be long!” Alec hung up the phone with a sigh. He had a headache already and knew it wasn’t going to go away any time soon.

He found Lydia pouring some drinks in the kitchen. “Hey, Izzy want’s to see me so I’m heading over there. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

“Alright, see you later tonight.” They smiled at each other and Alec kissed her cheek, before grabbing a coat and heading out of the house.

A short trip on the subway later, Alec found himself in a rough area of London he would rather not be in, and knocking on the door to Meliorn’s flat. The man himself answered the door a few moments later.

“Hey Alec, good to see you.” They shook hands and Meliorn gripped Alec’s arm briefly in greeting, “Don’t worry, I’m heading out, but uh...” Meliorn moved conspiratorially closer and lowered his voice, “Be careful, man. She’s seriously pissed at you right now.” 

“Thanks for the heads up.” As Meliorn left, Alec shut the door and moved further inside.

“Izzy?” He called out.

“Alec?!” She came storming out of the bedroom and he flinched as she threw her hairbrush at him.  
“Hey!” He rubbed at the sore spot on his shoulder.

“What the hell do you think you’re playing at, Alec? Why did you propose to Lydia?”

“You know I didn’t have a choice, Iz.”

“There’s always a choice. You’re going to ruin your life. And this is your _life_. Pretending to date her was one thing, but actual marriage?”

“Better my life than yours. With the engagement, Mum and Dad will be off your back for the foreseeable future.”

“No, no, no. Don’t you dare say that this is for me. You know this is the last thing I want for you.”

“Well it’s too late. It’s not like I can take back a proposal.”

“Yes you can Alec! And not to mention that you’re gay. And she doesn’t want to marry you either. You guys don’t have to listen to our parents so much.”  
“Isabelle you know family is the most important thing to me.” Isabelle deflated a little, and moved across the living room so she could wrap her arms around her brother, resting her head on his chest. Alec wrapped his arms around her in return.

“I know it is. But that doesn’t mean you have to be miserable. I want you to be happy for once.”

Alec sighed. “I am happy, okay? It’s not like I can ever come out to the world as gay, so there’s no epic romance in the cards for me anyway, mum and dad are happy now and Lydia isn’t so bad to be around. If nothing else at least we’re friends.” He pressed a kiss to his sisters forehead. “And let’s not forget I have you, you know you’re the best, Iz.”

“Yeah I know.” With a smile, Isabelle pulled away from her brother, “Come on, let’s go out for dinner, we haven’t been out just us in ages.”

“Sure, let’s go.”

~~~

“So...marriage, huh?” Alec sighed and gripped the bridge of his nose. He knew it wouldn’t be long before he heard from Jace, his adoptive brother. 

“Are you gonna yell at me too?” 

“No, I was thinking about it but I’m guessing that Izzy did enough yelling for the both of us.” Alec managed a small smile and a sound of agreement, “I just want to make sure that you really know what you’re getting into.” 

“Jace, you’re the golden child of the family, you don’t have to worry about doing anything wrong. I have to do this to keep them happy. And I know exactly what this will mean for me, okay?”

“But Alec, are you really sure that this is what you want?”

Alec hesitated before answering, “Look, Jace... I’m sure as I’ll ever be I guess. And like I told Izzy, I don’t really have a choice. Anyway, I’m sorry I really have to get to class now, can we talk about this later?”

”Alright, later Alec.” Alec hung up and picked up his notes for his first class of the day. 

He was a history teacher at Isabelle’s university. He actually really enjoyed it, history was one of his favourite topics and he enjoyed sharing his knowledge with his students. He didn’t really need to have the job, but it was definitely good for his sanity, even if some of his students essays made him want to kill himself occasionally.

But how was he going to teach without getting distracted today, with all this going on? And he knew the day was only going to get worse when he took one step into the classroom and all his students stopped talking to stare at him. That never happened. 

Alec froze for a moment, staring back at the faces of the students. No one spoke, so he slowly made his way over to the desk and began getting his notes in order, when someone yelled out, 

“So how much was the ring?” much to the amusement of the rest of the class. Alec felt his face heat up and he dropped his notes on the floor. As he bent down to pick them up, Alec took a deep, steadying breath. He really hated paparazzi and the news. What he wouldn’t give to just be a normal guy who no one cared about. 

Slowly, he stood back up and with a little cough, managed to face his students once more. Ignoring the question, he called for the class to quiet down and he began his lesson.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they go to a party and start making plans for the wedding...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took a little bit longer to get out than I intended, but I've had a super busy week.   
> Hope you guys enjoy~~

“Hey Alec, are you ready for the party? It’s almost time to - whoa.” Isabelle came to a dramatic stop as she pushed open her brother’s bedroom door. 

Alec was stood just in his boxer shorts, staring into his wardrobe with a look of apprehension on his face. Clothes had already been thrown across the room and discarded. The place was a mess. 

“What’s going on Alec? You usually don’t care what you wear.”

“Yeah, I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just wanted to wear something nice but I have no idea what that is.”

Izzy smiled and stepped towards Alec, “Well then you’re lucky you have me, big brother!” In no time at all Izzy had gone through all his clothes and found him the best possible outfit to wear to the party. 

She had dressed him in black suit trousers (because she knew Alec would be uncomfortable in any other colour and if nothing else she was a good sister), a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black waistcoat. 

“There! You look fantastic.” Her grin became sly, “So...who did you want to dress up for?” Alec rolled his eyes and swatted Isabelle gently over the head.

”No one. It’s just- it’s Aline’s birthday and I know most of the people there are going to be dressed up and gorgeous. I guess I didn’t want to look so out of place for once.”

“Oh, Alec.” Izzy hugged her brother, “Don’t worry, you’re gorgeous no matter what you wear! Now, did you pick up her present? It’s time to go.”   
~~~

It was Aline Penhallow’s 25th birthday and, as always, she was celebrating in style. Similar to Lydia, Aline was part of a very prestigious British family with close ties to the Royals. Her parents had reserved the Grand Ballroom in the Savoy Hotel located on the Strand in central London to celebrate her special day. 

The Lightwood siblings had been there before of course, but every time the general splendor of the place never ceased to amaze them.

Alec, Isabelle and Lydia met Jace outside the entrance to the hotel.

”Hey, it’s great to see you guys.” Jace called out as he saw them, pulling Izzy and Alec into a hug and swiftly dropping a kiss to Izzy and Lydia’s cheeks. 

Once upon a time, Alec would have felt his heart beating faster when Jace hugged him, or even a surge of jealousy as he kissed the others, but he had long since gotten over that. Jace was exceedingly straight, and Alec had gotten used to it. As he got older, his feelings morphed into what was more appropriate for your adoptive brother.

With Alec’s hand entwined with Lydia’s, the group made their way into the building and towards the ballroom, dropped off their gifts at a table that was already overflowing with presents, and joined the crowds of people mingling together. 

“Jace, is Clary coming?” Izzy asked him.

“Yeah, she should be here soon. She’s bringing a couple of her classmates. That Simon guy and someone else I don’t know who though.” Clary was Jace’s girlfriend. She was an art student at the same university as Isabelle, and the girls had met when Clary boldly asked if Izzy would model for her, as part of her class project on the human body.

Izzy had of course accepted and the two had become fast friends. Then after meeting Jace at a party Izzy had invited her to, he and Clary had become almost inseparable ever since. 

Unfortunately - from Alec’s point of view anyway - Clary came as a package deal with Simon. Alec really didn’t understand that guy. He was just too geeky for his own good, always there to make socially awkward comments which made everyone feel uncomfortable or shout out quotes from Star Wars or some such movie. Definitely not someone that Alec could relate to.

But, Clary and Simon had been best friends since they were children, and anywhere that she went, he followed on like a little puppy. Alec could only hope that whoever else the redhead was bringing with her wasn’t as annoying as Simon.

They weaved through the crowd until they came across the birthday girl.

“Happy birthday!” They all exclaimed and encased her in a large group hug. Aline was looking radiant, in a floor length golden gown which showed just enough cleavage to be sexy, but not quite enough to be slutty. A beautiful diamond necklace was decorating her neck, probably a birthday gift from her parents. 

“Thanks guys!” Aline responded as they finally let go of her, “I hope you guys have fun, I have some better music planned for later.” Aline winked at Izzy. Currently there was a live band playing classical music at one end of the room. _Definitely_ not Isabelle’s style!

Izzy winked right back, “Fantastic news, I hope you’ll dance with me when it starts?” 

“Of course!” Aline heard some others calling out to her, “Gotta go guys, but have fun okay? See you later!” She headed off towards the people calling her as gracefully as she could in 6inch heels.

“Lyds, I’m hungry let’s go raid the buffet.” Izzy said. Lydia looked to Alec, almost for permission. He smiled and squeezed her hand, “Enjoy.” 

Isabelle took hold of Lydia’s free hand and within seconds they were lost in the crowd. Turning his attention back to Jace, Alec noticed him searching the crowd, presumably for his girlfriend. 

“Hey, I can see them! Let’s go, Alec.” Alec sighed, mentally preparing himself to deal with Simon, and followed after his brother. 

Just as Clary and friends came into clear view, Alec stopped. He couldn’t move.

Stood next to the redhead was a man Alec had never seen before and who was so immediately captivating that Alec couldn’t look away. The man had dark hair spiked upwards with purple at the tips. Alec could even see that his eyes were lined with black and...glitter? But it didn’t look bad, it looked amazing.

It seemed that he was in the process of telling the others a story and his hands were moving animatedly as he was speaking. Oh, how Alec wanted to hear his voice. 

Suddenly, the man glanced in their direction, and his eyes locked onto Alec’s. They were the most gorgeous colour Alec had ever seen. They almost looked like gold. Were they contacts? Surely no ones eyes could naturally be so beautiful like those were.

Everything around Alec had disappeared, he couldn’t see the other people at the party, he couldn’t hear the music. All he could see was that man. 

Abruptly, Alec felt a hand touch his arm, jolting him out of his trance-like state.

“Alec, are you okay?” Blinking slightly, Alec turned his head to see Jace looking at him, a concerned expression evident on his face. 

“What?” Alec glanced back across to the man quickly, to see him smirk flirtatiously before turning his attention back to Simon, who had taken over the story. Alec felt his face turn pink, “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” 

Jace didn’t look convinced, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” 

“Alright...” They continued towards Clary and her friends. 

“Hey babe,” Jace greeted as soon as he got close enough, and pulled his girlfriend into a hug before kissing her gently. 

“Hey,” She said, after he released her, “Hey Alec, good to see you. So guys this is one of my friends from uni, he’s-”

“Magnus Bane,” The man, _Magnus_ , cut in to introduce himself, facing explicitly towards Alec, their eyes locking together once more and his hand outstretched, “And who are _you_?”

Alec couldn’t help but think that his voice sounded like pure silk and he felt a goofy smile appear on his own face, “Alec. Lightwood.” He responded and reached out to Magnus’ hand. A jolt went through his whole body as soon as they touched, and from the look on Magnus’ face, he had felt it too. 

“Alec. Short for...Alexander?” Alec could only manage to nod dumbly, “Nice to meet you, _Alexander_ ” Magnus said with another smirk, slowly and obviously checking out Alec’s whole body. Alec felt arousal shoot through him at the sound of his name coming from Magnus’ lips. 

Usually he hated his full name. But how could he hate it when Magnus said it like that?

“Uh, yeah. Nice to, uh, meet you. Too.” Alec replied, intelligently as always. He was vaguely aware that their hands were still gripped together. 

“Oh-kay...” Alec vaguely heard Jace speaking, “So, Magnus was it? I’m Jace Wayland, nice to meet you.” Jace held out his hand and it seemed as if a spell was broken. 

Magnus shook his head slightly and turned to face Jace, carefully pulling his hand away from Alec and offering it to Jace. They shook hands quickly. A normal amount of time to shake hands. “And you as well,” Magnus acknowledged, finally.

Jace, Clary and Simon were looking between Magnus and Alec with almost identical looks of bewilderment. It would have been amusing, if Alec didn’t feel so embarrassed. Even Simon was being uncharacteristically quiet as he studied the pair. 

“So Clary...how is your...um...art...going?” Alec flinched at himself as he spoke. Why couldn’t he form a proper sentence? Alec knew his face must be as red as a tomato, but he just wanted them to forget this whole meeting had happened. 

Thankfully, Clary took pity and began to launch into a story about the latest piece that she had been commissioned to paint. 

Before long, Alec couldn’t help but glance at Magnus again. He was surprised to find that the man occupying his thoughts was already looking at him. 

“Your hands are empty.” Magnus stated, when he noticed Alec’s attention. Huh?

“What?” Alec asked, stupidly.

“Your hands are empty.” Magnus repeated, “Can I get you a drink?” 

“Oh, I...uh...don’t worry...um...I can...” Alec gestured over his shoulder, vaguely trying to show that he could get a drink for himself. 

With a large smile, Magnus took a step closer to Alec, who hastily looked over at the others and found the three of them engrossed in a whole other conversation, not paying any attention to them at all. 

“You’re adorable, Alexander. Let’s go together.” Before Alec could even think of responding, Magnus gently took his hand and began leading him to the drinks table. 

When they arrived, Alec took a glass of champagne and downed it in one, before picking up another glass and sipping at it a little slower. God what was wrong with him tonight? He really needed more alcohol. Magnus looked rather amused as he picked up his own drink.

“So tell me Alexander, how do you know Clary?” Magnus led them to some chairs that were decorating the side of the room, and into an easy conversation, making Alec feel comfortable and relaxed so he could finally form some full sentences be less nervous. They were even laughing together as they told stories to each other of their mutual friends. 

Alec didn’t know how long they had been talking and drinking together, but he knew he wasn’t ready for it to end when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. 

Looking around, he saw Lydia stood next to him. He felt his heart drop slightly, who had he been kidding? He couldn’t sit here and let Magnus flirt with him all night - and even let himself flirt back. Nothing could happen, it was best to stop now.

Sure Magnus seemed interested in him, but Alec wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t that exceptional as a person. Surely Magnus would find someone else to catch his attention easily enough.

“Hi, Love.” She spoke, before leaning down to kiss his cheek, “Who’s this?”

“Oh, uh...This is Magnus Bane. He’s a friend of Clary’s.” Keeping one hand on Alec’s shoulder, Lydia reached out to shake Magnus’ hand.

“Hi Magnus. I’m Lydia, Alec’s fiance.” For the briefest of moments, Alec thought he saw confusion and even sadness in the other man’s eyes, but it was gone just as soon as it appeared. Magnus was his charming self.

“Pleasure. You’re very beautiful, Alec is lucky to have you.”

“Well thank you.” Lydia shot a brilliant smile at him.

Magnus stood and smoothed down his shirt, “Well, I’ll leave you two to enjoy the rest of the party.” Alec wanted to stop him, he didn’t want Magnus to leave, even though he had just been thinking about how nothing could happen, part of him wished that it could. But before he could react, the younger man had already disappeared through the throngs of people on the dance floor. 

Lydia slipped down onto Alec’s lap and hugged him, whispering a small “I’m sorry” into his ear. 

~~~

The rest of the party had been completely boring and uneventful to Alec. He had danced with Lydia and Isabelle when the classical band stopped playing and loud dance music was blasted through the sound system, but hadn’t caught sight of Magnus again. 

Alec had woken up the next morning alone on the sofa of the hotel room they had booked in the Savoy. Of course he let Lydia take the bed. They never shared, not even in their house where they each had their own bedrooms. 

And in this hotel, the sofa was pretty much just as comfortable as the bed. 

Snuggling deeper into the cushions and wrapping himself more fully into the duvet, Alec couldn’t help but think about Magnus. Why was he so disappointed that he hadn’t got to see more of that man? It’s not like he really knew Magnus all that well. It was the first time they had met for gods sake!

And even as sad as he was about it, he understood why Lydia had appeared when she did at the party. Alec probably would have outed himself in front of all the guests and wouldn’t that have been a shock for everyone. His parents probably would have killed him. No - it was better this way.

Besides, it wasn’t like he was ever going to see Magnus again anyway. 

Glad that it was a Saturday and he didn’t have to work, Alec tried to will himself back to sleep so he could forget about things for just a little while longer.

 

~~~

**/from Lydia/** \- Your mother set up an appointment with the royal wedding planner. Meeting her when you finish work OK?

Alec, who was on the way to his last class of the day, groaned unhappily as he checked his messages. 

**/to Lydia/** \- Do I really have to be there? 

There was a few minutes before Alec got a reply. 

**/from Lydia/** \- I’d like you to come. If we have to go through with this wedding, it’s better that we do it together every step, right?

Deep down, Alec knew she was right. If he really was a loving fiance he probably would make an effort to help with the preparations.

**/to Lydia/** \- I guess so. Alright, where?

Lydia text him the time and address, then Alec slipped his phone back in his pocket. This was getting far too real for him. Could he really get married to a person that he didn’t love? And who didn’t love him? 

~~~

Later that day, Alec found himself sat beside Lydia in their wedding planner’s office. The wedding planner herself sat behind a desk opposite them, discussing the first basic plans for their wedding - the when, where and who stuff. Alec was bored. He really didn’t care as long as the date of the wedding was as far away from now as possible. 

He was tuning in and out of the conversation, since the two ladies didn’t seem to require his input. He assumed that Lydia thought if he didn’t like something he would speak up. 

It wasn’t until they were talking about clothes that something finally caught Alec’s attention.

“Okay, so I’ve set up some meetings with designers...” The wedding planner was saying. Alec wasn’t even sure what her name was, “You can meet with Dolce and Valentino. They have some beautiful designs in mind.”

Suddenly, Lydia smiled brightly and shot Alec a quick sideways look, “Actually, I know who I want to design my dress.”

“Oh?” The planner looked surprised, “Who did you have in mind?”

“Magnus Bane.” Alec’s head shot up so fast he felt a sharp pain in his neck and simultaneously began choking.

The two women suddenly focused on the choking man. “Alec, are you alright sweetheart?” Lydia rubbed his back whilst the party planner handed him a glass of water. He took it with a grateful nod and sipped at the water. 

Finally he stopped coughing and rubbed at his neck as he focused back on Lydia.

“Magnus?” He asked. 

“Yes, his designs are quite spectacular.” 

The party planner shook her head, “I’ve never heard of him.”

“No you wouldn’t have. He only graduated university last year. He’s been doing a lot of work trying to get his name out there and I want to help.”

“You can’t possibly want an unknown to design your wedding dress?” The wedding planner scoffed. 

“Yes I do. And not just my dress, but Alec’s tux as well.”

“It could be a bad idea. He might choke with his first big project. And this wedding is a very big project. He could ruin everything.”

“Oh I don’t think he will. I’ll make an appointment with him next week and we can all go and look at his work and design ideas. What do you think?” Lydia aimed her question at Alec.

“I...uh...I don’t...How do you know stuff about Magnus?” It had been a week since Aline’s party and Alec hadn’t managed to get the golden-eyed beauty out of his mind no matter what he tried. 

It seemed that almost every moment of every day he was replaying their conversations in his head.

“I met up with Clary for lunch a couple of days ago and Magnus was there too. We started talking about their jobs and he showed me his design book. He’s really good.” Alec didn’t know what to say. 

“Well...” The planner filled the silence, “If you sure that he’s really who you want we can meet with him. I won’t cancel the meetings with the other designers yet though, just in case.”

Alec’s heart was racing. He was going to see Magnus again.

Somehow he just knew that this was going to be a really, really bad idea.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me SO LONG to get right. I'm still not completely happy but I think it's okay.  
> This one has a couple more meetings between the lovely Alec and Magnus, with some dialogue and scenes from the TV show!  
> Let me know if you like it :) ~~

He was _not_ freaking out. Totally not freaking out. 

Okay...maybe he was freaking out a little bit. _Come on Alec, just breathe_ , he kept saying to himself. _You’re just going to see him again, it’s going to be fine_.

His inner pep talk wasn’t really working. His heart was beating faster and faster the closer they got to Magnus’ flat. 

He was sat in a car with Lydia and Madeline, which he had finally learnt was the name of their wedding planner, on their way to meet with Magnus about wedding clothes. 

Oh god, what was he going to do? Alec was so ashamed by his behaviour towards Magnus at the party. He’d been such a stuttering awkward mess. Magnus must have thought he was such an idiot. 

Lydia held onto Alec’s hand, “Are you feeling okay, Alec? You look a little flushed.”

“I’m fine, just a little warm.” Alec opened the window and slouched down further into the seat, relishing the cool breeze on his face. 

Lydia’s hand moved to cover Alec’s forehead, “Are you getting sick? You do feel warm.” Alec lightly pushed her hand away.

“I’m okay. Just stressed with, you know, work and stuff.” Alec shut his eyes, making it clear he didn’t want to talk anymore. 

Madeline looked between them with a frown, before engaging Lydia in a conversation about what kind of wedding dress she wanted.  
Alec had been dreading this moment all week. No matter how he acted sometimes, Alec wasn’t stupid. And he wasn’t really in denial. He knew that he had a crush on Magnus, even from their only too brief meeting the week before. He hadn’t been that awkward around a person since he first thought he liked Jace. 

He wasn’t ready to know how badly Magnus thought of him, though. Or, even if by some miracle Magnus didn’t think he was complete loser...nothing could happen. It was dangerous for Alec to be around this man. What if he couldn’t control himself? What if he made a mess of everything? 

_Calm down, Alec_ He told himself.

Ten minutes later found them in Shepard’s Bush exiting the car outside of Magnus’ building. 

Alec looked around uncertainly, although it did seem to be a fairly nice area to live in, it wasn’t quite what he expected.

“So, which apartment is it?” He asked. Lydia consulted her phone for a moment.

“Should be building 4, flat 42.” They located the building with little difficulty and pressed the buzzer for 42. 

“Yes?” Alec felt his heart clench at the sound of that voice. Why was he so affected by Magnus? His thought’s flew back to how this was a very, very bad idea. He repeated the mantra in his head, _it’s going to be fine, it’s going to be fine_...

“Hi, Magnus it’s Lydia. Can you let us up?”

“Of course! Inside, take the lift up to the 6th floor.” The door beeped, allowing them entry. The lift journey was awkwardly quiet. Alec knew that Madeline still didn’t approve of Magnus designing their wedding clothes, even if she still hadn’t seen any of his designs yet. 

Alec had had to listen to Lydia complaining all week about how Madeline was trying to force her to meet with other designers instead. Alec wasn’t sure if he was happy or sad that Lydia had refused, remaining adamant that Magnus had to be the one.

He was grateful when then the lift finally stopped and they exited into the hallway. Magnus was already there waiting for them. 

“Hi Magnus,” Lydia greeted cheerfully as he kissed her cheek.

“Lydia, a pleasure as always.” As Lydia introduced him to Madeline, Alec hung back slightly from the group. He wasn’t sure what to say and he didn’t want to make a complete fool out of himself again. Not to mention his heart was still beating a mile a minute, worse now that Magnus was in front of him. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Alexander.” Magnus greeted, politely. 

Alec offered a small smile nodded his head slightly, crossing his arms over his chest, “Mhmm,”

Sensing that that was all Alec was planning on saying, Magnus ushered his potential clients inside, offering some refreshments. 

If Alec didn’t talk, he couldn’t make himself look stupid, right? And maybe, if he was lucky, his crush on this man wouldn’t get any worse. 

Alec declined the offer of a drink with a shake of his head, he didn’t want to end up spilling it on anything.

Lydia and Madeline both gratefully accepted a cup of tea. 

With pleasantries out of the way, Madeline instantly got down to business. 

”So, Magnus. Would you care to show us your work and what you had in mind for designs?” It was easy to tell from her tone of voice that Madeline did not expect to be impressed. 

“Of course, please follow me. I have a few things set out in my studio.” The flat wasn’t large, but there was a second bedroom which Magnus had converted into his own design studio. It had just enough space to house a few mannequins, a desk and sofa. 

There were also boxes with all different kinds of fabrics spilling out of them and a rack of clothes, which were each individually covered up. 

“On the mannequins you can see some of my more recent pieces,” Magnus explained, “When you’re ready let me know and I can show you my sketches for the wedding. Although I didn’t know what style or fabric you guys are looking for, so I included lots of different ideas.”

“I’m sure they’re great, thanks Magnus.” Lydia encouraged kindly as she followed Madeline, who was looking closely and clearly critiquing the outfits Magnus had displayed. 

“Feel free to ask me any questions if you need to.” Magnus told them, before sitting on the arm of the sofa, giving them the space to freely see his work. 

Alec stuck close behind Lydia, pretending he was just as interested in the clothes as she was, when in reality he was hyper aware of Magnus’ presence in the room. His heartbeat still hadn’t slowed. 

He could only nod, when Lydia gushed about a certain fabric or design, showing him with glee on her face. He hoped he looked interested enough, but either way she seemed satisfied with his responses. Even Madeline appeared to be intrigued by Magnus’ designs. 

Alec felt a hand graze his wrist, “Hey-” Magnus had begun, but Alec was so startled that he flinched away from the touch and jumped at the electricity he felt between them once again, like when they had first shaken hands at the party. 

Unfortunately, as Alec jumped, he knocked into one of the mannequins and could only watch helplessly as it fell, smacking into the others causing a rather domino like effect. 

Lydia squeaked and hastily hopped out of the way before they could fall on her, Madeline catching her arm to steady her, a loud bang resounding as the last of the mannequins hit the floor.

The room was silent for a few moments whilst everyone took in exactly what had happened. Slowly, everyone’s gaze turned to Alec and he began panicking. 

“Oh god! I’m so, so sorry! Lydia are you okay? Mag-Magnus...did I ruin..? I’m sorry, I have to...” Alec apparently didn’t require answers to his babbling. In a mad scramble, he made to leave the room, only to catch his foot on the base of a mannequin his eyes widening further as he began to fall. 

But, all of a sudden, Alec’s fall was cut short as strong arms gripped onto him pulling him back up. Alec’s hands automatically came to hold tightly onto his saviour’s biceps as gravity helped to lean his body back upright and into Magnus’ personal space. 

Their faces were so close together, Alec was breathing hard and he couldn’t help but glance down at Magnus’ lips for a moment, before getting lost in Magnus’ golden eyes. 

What could have only been a few moments later, they were jolted apart by a small cough from Lydia. Magnus blinked a took a step back, before amusement began radiating from his whole body. He tilted his head thoughtfully, a large grin on his face. 

“Who knew royalty could be so...” Magnus searched for the right word, “Inelegant?” Alec could feel the redness across his face expanding down his neck. He didn’t think he had ever been so embarrassed in his whole life. Not even his behaviour at the party had been this bad.

“Sit down for a while, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Alec could do nothing but comply, dropping himself down onto the sofa and resting his head in his hands, trying to hide himself as best as possible from the others. He could hear Lydia giggling softly.

”I’m sorry about him, Magnus,” She said, “He’s not usually so clumsy.”

“It’s quite alright, there was no harm done thankfully. Let me make us all some tea and then I’ll sort this out and we can go through my sketches. Yes?”

“Wonderful, Magnus. Thank you.” Alec heard Magnus leave the room and felt Lydia slide onto the sofa beside him. He relaxed into her touch as she stroked his back comfortingly.

“Relax, Alec. It’s okay.” She told him softly.

Magnus returned a few minutes later with a tray of tea and produced two large sketchbooks.

Alec was proud that he didn’t spill his tea on anything.

~~~

Thankfully, the next few days for Alec passed very uneventfully. He was able to throw himself fully into his work and barely ever got distracted whilst thinking of Magnus, or his marriage. 

And not to mention he had just collected in essays from his students, which meant he had _a lot_ of papers to grade. This took up so much of his free time that even his mother knew not to really bother him so much. 

This was what Alec liked. Plenty of time to himself with no real worries to think about. 

It wasn’t until the weekend that Alec started worrying again. 

“Morning Alec, don’t forget you have your fitting with Magnus tonight.” Lydia told him, as he came down to the kitchen for breakfast. 

“What fitting?”

“Did you forget? I know the wedding is a long time away, but Magnus needs rough measurements so he can start planning our outfits.”

“Oh. What time? Are you coming too?”

“No, there’s something I have to do tonight, my fitting is in a few days. You should be there at 7.” Alec had to go and see Magnus _by himself_? Why didn’t he know about this before? How did he forget? Had he really been that wrapped up in grading papers?

“When...uh...when did we plan this?” Lydia gave Alec a sympathetic smile and pushed a plate of pancakes towards him across the kitchen counter. 

“You really don’t remember? I told you a few nights ago.”

“I guess not. Sorry.”

“Not a problem, as long as you get there.” 

They ate the rest of their breakfast together in silence, then Lydia left to go shopping with her friends, leaving Alec alone.

Trying to stop the thoughts streaming through his head about Magnus, Alec decided to go for a run. It had been a while since he last had time to spare and running always helped to keep him focused. 

That evening he made himself an early dinner and he was just about to start eating when his phone starting ringing. Checking the caller ID, he saw it was an unknown number. He debated for a moment before deciding to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hi! Alec? It’s Magnus. I hope you don’t mind I got your number from Lydia.”

“Oh. Um...hi. What’s up?”

“Well...I know you’re supposed to be coming over in an hour, but I’m kind of having an emergency...” As if on queue, Alec heard shouting from the background. 

“Bane! Get off the phone, I need your help now!” 

“Yeah, yeah, just wait a second, okay? I have other clients too!” Magnus shouted back to the voice.

“Was that Luke?” Alec questioned. 

“Oh you know Luke?” Magnus sounded surprised. Luke Garroway was a police officer. They had first met when Jace started dating Clary as he was her step father. He had also been the officer in charge when Jace had been arrested that one time... 

“There’s an award ceremony tomorrow and his suit is ruined, I need to fix it.”

“So, you want to cancel tonight?” Part of Alec was relieved. He didn’t quite know how he would behave around Magnus if they were alone. 

“No, not at all. I was just wondering if you come a little later?”

“When?”

“About 8:30 or 9?”

“I’m not sure, I have to be at my parents house tomorrow morning. Will it take long?”

“It shouldn’t. Perhaps half an hour to an hour? Is that okay?”

“I guess so.”

“Excellent!” A shout of ‘Magnus!’ was heard again from Luke and Magnus chuckled, “I’d better go, see you later, Alec!” Before Alec could say anything else, Magnus had already ended the call. 

He spent the next few moments staring at his phone. He was a little happy with himself. He’d spoken to Magnus without stuttering! All it had taken was not being face to face. He was slightly more confident about their meeting.

Alec finished his dinner and washed up before slumping onto the sofa to watch some TV. He couldn’t quite relax, he kept fidgeting and checking the time. He had far too many pent up nerves.

When the time finally came to leave, Alec had to take a few deep breaths in and out, before he started up his car and drove across London to Magnus’ home, where he was buzzed up as soon as he’d pressed the button. 

Luke answered the door when Alec knocked.

“Hey Luke,” Luke moved aside so Alec could enter the room, a quick glance showed that Magnus was not anywhere to be seen. 

“Alec, great to see you again kid. Jace keeping out of trouble?”

“Yeah, I think so. Although I haven’t seen him since Aline’s birthday.”

“Great. How’re you doing? Getting all ready for your wedding?”

“Um...yeah I guess so. Lydia deals with most of it. Did Magnus manage to fix your suit?” Alec desperately didn’t want to talk about his wedding.

“Of course I managed to fix it! You should have more faith in me, Alexander.” Magnus had chosen that moment to make himself known. Luke laughed.

“It’s true! Magnus can fix any clothing related disaster. Anyway, I won’t keep you anymore I know it’s getting late, see you around.” Luke picked up his suit, and they said their goodbyes as he left. 

When the door closed Alec was uncomfortably aware of how quiet it suddenly was now there was only two of them. 

“How are you, Alexander?” Magnus asked him politely.

”I’m...okay. Busy with work. And you?” 

“Much the same. Thank you for coming later tonight, I hope I didn’t ruin any plans of yours but I really didn’t want to cancel on you.”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t doing anything.”  
“Oh good.” Magnus smiled over at him. “Come on through to my studio, don’t worry there’s nothing for you to trip over in there this time.” Magnus’ eyes twinkled and he smirked playfully. 

With an unconvincingly annoyed huff, Alec followed Magnus through his apartment, resigning himself to the fact that he was just always going to look like a crazy red tomato around this man. Maybe he should ask Izzy for some make up to cover it up for once?

Magnus handed Alec a shirt, “Would you mind changing into this for me? It will help me get some better measurements for you.” 

“Uh...sure. Can I...is there...?” Oh god he was a stuttering mess again at the prospect of being shirtless in front of Magnus, who as usual just looked amused. 

“The bathroom is just on the left outside this room if you would be more comfortable changing there.”

Alec mumbled a quick ‘thanks’ before darting out of the room. He changed quickly and returned to Magnus’ studio. 

“Alright then, lets get you measured.” 

Magnus started by measuring Alec’s height, shoulders and chest, chatting happily as he did so. He asked about Alec’s job, how his family and Lydia were and anything else he could think of. Alec was happy to answer and also shyly apologized again for almost destroying Magnus’ studio on his previous visit, which Magnus just waved off, letting him know nothing had been damaged. 

Magnus then moved on to measuring Alec’s arms and then neck, which left their faces far too close to together and Alec had to look across the room to avoid staring too much. 

Alec was relieved when Magnus moved to measure his waist and hips, followed by the outseam of his legs. But he stopped breathing when Magnus began to measure his inseam. Magnus was _right there_ so close to him...Alec clenched his eyes shut and lifted his face to the ceiling, silently praying to every god that he knew of that he didn’t end up in another awkward situation here. 

Much to Alec’s relief, Magnus stepped away just moments later and made the last few notes in his notebook. 

“We’re all done here! How about I make us a drink whilst you change back?”

“Sure, I’d like that.”

They left the studio together, Alec turning into the bathroom and Magnus heading towards the kitchen. 

A cocktail was pressed into Alec’s hands as he nervously shuffled to join Magnus in the living room. Magnus was stood by the window and had turned to face Alec, keeping them stood close together.

“To us.” Magnus said simply, before clinking their glasses together and sipping at his drink. Alec was confused by the toast, but chose not to question it. He swallowed some of his own drink, barely hiding a wince. It was far stronger than what he usually drank. Magnus didn’t seem to notice. 

“So why are we doing this so early, anyway? I mean the wedding won’t be for another year or so.”

“Lydia was very insistent that we get these details out of the way early.” Magnus hesitated for a moment, walking away slightly to look back out the window, “But that’s not the only reason.” He didn’t seem inclined to explain any further.

“Are fashion designers always this cryptic?” Alec asked with a small smile.

“I’m not being cryptic. I’m being coy.” Magnus sighed audibly and twisted back around to step in front of Alec, “Let me spell it out for you,” the younger man paused, a look of vulnerability on his face, “I wanted to see you again.”

Alec’s heart was pounding in his chest. He wasn’t sure what to say, although he managed to speak the first clear word in his mind - “Why?”

“Why’d you come? You know you didn’t have to, especially without someone else here with you.”

Alec was still feeling slightly speechless. His whole body felt like it was trembling as he shrugged his shoulders, “I’m not sure.” Which was such a total lie. He knew why he’d come. 

“For a long time, I’ve been closed off to feeling anything for anyone, man or woman. You’ve unlocked something in me.” Magnus spoke the words with such unbridled emotion that Alec was completely taken aback.

What could he say to that? Oh how he wanted to just pull Magnus into his arms right then. He was just about to reach out after noticing how sad Magnus looked by his lack of response, when his phone started ringing from his pocket. 

They both jumped and Alec quickly moved across the room, not even checking the caller ID as he answered. 

He spoke quickly with his mother and hung up the phone.

“I should go. My mom was reminding me about what an early start I have tomorrow.”

“Your mother must be excited to talk about your wedding with you.”

Alec made eye contact quickly before looking away, “Uh...listen Magnus I...I wish I, I, I could...I just, I don’t know what-” Alec was too surprised to continue trying to speak, as he found himself staring at Magnus’ finger, which he had held up just in front of Alec’s lips. 

“I understand.” He said simply. Alec couldn’t have kept the smile from his face if he had wanted to. How was Magnus so perfect? The man in question reached out to pick up another glass, holding it out to Alec.

“Stay for just one more drink?”

How could Alec refuse him?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's the next chapter, I hope you like it!  
> Thank you all so much for the lovely comments and all the kudos I've had for this story so far!

“Slept at Magnus’ place?” Came Isabelle’s far too smug question as Alec wandered into his parents’ house. He glanced around quickly, thankfully noting that no one else was in the entryway. 

“How do you know I wasn’t at home?”

“Because you’re late. And when I called Lydia she said you never went home last night,” Izzy put a hand on her hip and stared at him, “So, I’ll ask again: Slept at Magnus’ place?”

Alec sighed and continued walking into the house, “Didn’t do much sleeping.” 

He faltered when he realized what that probably sounded like.

“It was late because he had to help Luke,” Alec tried to explain, “He was just taking measurements for my suit.”

“Really? _Measurements_ , huh? All night?” Izzy twisted her hair in an innocent gesture, but coupled with her smirk, was anything but.

Alec halted and turned back to face her, “What?” He held his arms and and shrugged as he spoke.

“Nothing,” Isabelle sighed, “I believe you,” joined with a look that said she clearly _didn’t_ believe a word he was saying. 

Alec glanced around again to make sure no one was close by.

“Okay, Magnus made cocktails. I’m telling you nothing else happened.”

“When you’re ready to talk about whatever you need to talk about, I’m here.” Alec frowned.

“Hey, I talk to you,”

“About everything but your personal life,” Izzy paused before deciding to continue her impromptu rant, “You know, and it’s kind of not fair because I talk to you about mine all the time. For example, I broke up with Meliorn. And I’ve moved back into my dorm,”

“Really? Turning over a new leaf?”

Isabelle exhaled unhappily, “He was a bit much. Apparently I need someone more...sophisticated,”

“Izzy, I realize that you’re trying to take some of the family heat, and I appreciate it, but you can’t change who you are,”

“Really? And you can?”

“I know who I am,” And it was true. Alec did know exactly who he was, he was just ignoring it for the sake of his family.

“Alec-”

“Enough, Izzy. Let’s not leave them waiting any longer.”

He was distracted all through breakfast. He couldn’t stop thinking back to the night before...

_“Let me make you another drink, Alexander. I’m sure I can find something more to your taste.” They had had three drinks so far, all different, and Alec hadn’t really enjoyed any of them. He didn’t really drink very often, so he wasn’t used to the taste._

_The drink Magnus handed him when he returned was bright pink._

_“Really?” Alec questioned. Magnus glared playfully and dropped back down onto the sofa._

_“Oh, just try it!” Cautiously, Alec raised the glass to his lips and sipped a little of the liquid. It tasted like...cranberry juice?_

_“Is there even alcohol in this?” Magnus smirked._

_“Yes there is. Quite a bit actually. That’s the beauty of most cocktails, you can disguise the taste. So, do you like it?”_

_Alec took another, slightly bigger sip, before responding, “I think so.”_

_“Excellent.”_

“Alec!” Alec was jerked back into the moment by his mother. “Alexander, have you heard anything I just said?”

Alec looked embarrassed, “Um...no?” His mother sighed, looking very put out. His father wisely stayed quiet, but Alec saw the hint of a smile on his face. Isabelle was looking openly amused. 

“Honestly, Alec. You need to get your head out of the clouds. Now, we were talking about what date to set for your wedding. We need to choose a date so we can make better plans...”

Alec tuned her out again. She wanted him to listen, but didn’t really care for his input so he kept gazing in her direction, allowing his mind to wander once again...

_Alec was drunk. Totally drunk. How many drinks had he had? Seven? Eight? More? He’d completely lost track. He was laughing. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this relaxed and happy in another persons company._

_They had been talking about anything and everything. Alec now knew more about Magnus than he suspected he’d ever known about anyone apart from his family._

_Alec had just been to the bathroom and was carefully making his way back the sofa which was difficult as the room seemed to be spinning._

_Just before he could sit down, Alec tripped over his own feet and went tumbling down with an embarrassing squeak, landing hard half on the sofa and half on top of Magnus._

_Even as drunk as he was, Alec was aware of his face heating up bright red._

_Magnus seemed pleasantly shocked, “Oh. Hello Alexander.” Alec looked up slowly and found himself barely a few inches away from Magnus’ face._

_Their eyes met and Alec’s breathing increased. Magnus smiled and Alec felt himself becoming more entranced with the man before him. Magnus brought his hand to Alec’s cheek then spoke,  
“Let’s watch some TV.” Alec shook his head slightly, bringing his eyes back into focus, to try and understand Magnus’ words._

_“What?” Magnus’ smile turned a little sad._

_“You’re drunk Alec, let’s watch some TV,”_

_“Okay.” Magnus moved to switch on the television and Alec flipped over so he was lying down in front of Magnus._

_Magnus didn’t seem to mind, and ran his fingers gently through Alec’s hair as they watched some random TV show, which slowly lulled Alec to sleep._

_When Alec woke up in the morning he was so comfortable he didn’t want to move. But he then gradually began to realize that he wasn’t in his bed, but snuggled against Magnus._

_The selfish part of himself didn’t want to move. Wanted to enjoy this for a while longer. Magnus was still sleeping and looked so peaceful and beautiful, even with his slightly smudged eye make up._

_Carefully, Alec extracted his phone from his pocket and checked the time. His eyes widened, “Shit!” He yelled, before jumping up off the sofa, waking Magnus in the process and-_

Fingers snapped in front of his face, “For god’s sake Alexander!” Alec jumped in surprise and looked up into his mothers glaring face. 

“I’m sorry!” He shouted, in a quick attempt at self preservation. 

“What is even so distracting right now?” 

“Nothing...” Alec mumbled looking down at his food, but not before he noticed the look Izzy was sending his way. 

“Well whatever it is you need to start paying attention. This is important.”

“I know.” He was still looking down at his plate.

“So you agree to the date?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure, yes.” Oh god, what date had he just agreed to? He didn’t dare to ask for clarification. He looked to Izzy for help. She just shrugged and shook her head. But she didn’t look too worried. That had to be a good sign, right?

“Good. Finish your breakfast and we can go.” As soon as possible, Alec dragged Izzy away from everyone and into the now empty kitchen.

“Izzy, what date did I agree to?” She shook her head at him again and folded her arm.

“I’m not sure I should even tell you. You deserve it for spacing out like that without giving me any details!”

“Iz, please.” He begged. 

“August 10th.” Alec let out a little sigh of relief. 

“Thank god.” Currently it was October. He still had almost a whole year before he had to go through with this marriage for real. Turning sympathetic, Izzy reached out to touch his arm gently.

“You know, you don’t have to go through with it, Alec.”

“Yes I do.” He pulled away from her grip and walked away from his sister. Thankfully, Isabelle didn’t try to bring the topic up again for the whole day whilst they were out with their parents and Jace, who joined them later on.

~~~

Alec’s head was killing him. He honestly felt like he was just going to collapse in pain at any moment. Usually work was the time he could relax. Teaching university students was usually good that way, since for the most part his students wanted to be there and would listen carefully and ask questions when they needed to.

But ever since Alec had gotten engaged, his students seemed to think this made him much more approachable and stopped giving him the respectful space one would usually give to their teacher. They would come to him in groups or individually before classes, after classes, or even if they just saw him in the hallways. The questions were always the same:

“So when’s the big day?”

“How long have you been dating?”

“So how much _was_ the ring?”

“Are you excited?”

“Have you started making plans yet?”

It was only Tuesday. He couldn’t wait to leave and go home. He just couldn’t deal with all these questions. How could he answer his students believably when this really wasn’t what he wanted? 

If anyone found out it was all just for show, he would ruin his family reputation for sure. He couldn’t do that. 

He forcefully slammed the front door when he finally got home at around 5 o clock. He’d left work a little earlier than he should have, but he really couldn’t be bothered to do the last of his work and he didn’t have any other classes. 

Lydia was in the living room with a couple of her friends and they all jumped when they heard the door slamming shut. 

“Sorry.” He apologized, dropping his bag on the floor and storming into the kitchen. Lydia shared a worried look with her friends and hurried after her fiance. 

“Bad day?”

“Like you wouldn’t even believe.” Alec took a bottle of water from the fridge and downed half of it in one, “I need some air, I’m going for a run.”

“Alright. I’m here if you want to talk, okay? I can make them go home.” Lydia offered.

Alec’s expression softened for a moment and he reached out to stroke his fingers through Lydia’s hair for a moment.

“Thank you, but right now I just need to be alone. See you later.” Alec made a quick pit stop in his bedroom to change into jogging bottoms and an old baggy t-shirt before taking off out of the house as quickly as he had entered it. 

He wasn’t in the mindset to work up to a fast run and almost immediately took off full throttle, running as fast as he could possibly make his body go.

He wasn’t even really paying attention to where he was going. He ran through a couple of parks, down some streets and didn’t stop until he physically couldn’t go any further. 

Breathing heavily, he dropped down onto a nearby bench. He felt a little better. His head was clearer now, the headache almost gone.

Alec pulled his phone out of his zipped up pocket and found he had a new message, 

**/from Magnus/** \- Do you need an alibi for the police? I’d be happy to provide one for you... x

What? The police? Had something happened?

**/to Magnus/** \- What do you mean?

Thankfully, a response came only a minute or so later, before Alec could get too worried.

**/from Magnus/** \- Was visiting a friend and you ran past us. Figured you’d either committed a crime or really had something on your mind. X

Alec let out a sigh of relief. Of course nothing had happened. But had he really run past Magnus and hadn’t noticed? Whilst he was thinking, his phone buzzed with another message,

**/from Magnus/** \- Wanna talk about it? We can go get coffee? X

**/to Magnus/** \- Sure, where?

For once, Alec didn’t even think before sending that message. He wanted to see Magnus again. But after they arranged the time and the place, he started getting a little nervous. 

They hadn’t left things too awkwardly when Alec had left his house just a few days ago, but they had fallen asleep on the sofa together! Oh god, what must Magnus really think of him? He’s supposed to be getting married and falls asleep cuddling with a fashion designer? A _male_ fashion designer at that...

Was it going to be weird? Magnus must know Alec had a crush on him. This could ruin everything, why was he going to see him again? 

Alec was just about to change his mind and call their meeting off, when he noticed that somehow he was stood in front of the cafe that Magnus had told him about. 

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door, automatically zeroing in on Magnus, who was sat at a table near the back, with two cups of coffee already in front of him. 

When Magnus noticed Alec, he smiled brightly and pushed one of the cups to the opposite side of the table.

“So, do you need that Alibi?” Alec laughed as he sat down, already feeling better now he was in Magnus’ presence. 

“No, thanks. But I’ll keep that in mind in case I ever do need one.”

“Always happy to help, Alexander.” Magnus was still smiling, but as he took in Alec’s appearance, he began to frown slightly, “So, what’s wrong? I mean...you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to...but when you ran past me earlier you looked like...super stressed out or something.”

Alec sighed and slid deeper into his chair. He wanted to open up to Magnus, god he really wanted to. But could he? What would Magnus think if he knew the truth? Would he tell the press? Alec didn’t think so, Magnus didn’t seem like the type to do that. 

Alec thought everything through in his mind for a few minutes - bringing his headache straight back - before deciding he would just talk about some of it.

“It’s just...this wedding is really stressing me out. It’s not even for almost another year and it’s already so overwhelming,” Magnus nodded sympathetically, “My mum is planning everything with Lydia down to the guest list, food, colour schemes...even my students won’t leave me alone about it...it’s all feeling just too...too real. Too quick.”

“Alec...it is real. People plan their weddings a long time in advance. Some people a lot longer than just one year. There’s a lot to do, you know?”

“I know I just...I really don’t want to think about it.”

Magnus glanced down at his coffee, looking unsure for a moment,

“Please don’t take this the wrong way but...why are you marrying Lydia?” Their eyes met across the table, “I know not all couples are alike, but you don’t seem to have that happy couple vibe going on.” 

Alec didn’t know what to say. What could he say? He knew what he was supposed to say, that he was in love with her no matter what it looked like to anyone else and he wanted to have a life with her. He just didn’t feel like he could lie to Magnus about that. 

“Because...because I have to, okay?” Magnus looked confused.

“You have to? What do you mean?”

“I...I’m sorry I can’t talk about it,” Alec stood up suddenly, “I’m sorry I should...I should go. I need to go home.”

“No, Alec,” Magnus stood quickly and grabbed onto Alec’s wrist, “Please wait. I won’t ask anymore, I’m sorry.” Alec could hear the sincere apology in Magnus’ voice. It only took him a few seconds to sit back down. 

“My whole life I’ve done everything my family asked of me. I’ve never hesitated before. I have to do this.”

Alec felt uncomfortable under Magnus’ scrutinizing gaze. 

“Well, Alexander, I’m not aware of all the details here, but maybe it’s time you started living for yourself. Do what’s in your heart.”

“I wish I could.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All!  
> I just wanna say thanks again for all the comments and kudos!  
> I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but it's a filler I needed before the bigger stuff happens,  
> Enjoy ~~  
> :)

“Why did you set this up without asking me? You know I hate stuff like this, I don’t want to do it.”

“Oh grow up, Alec. It’s just an interview.”

Alec was walking back to his house with his mother. They had gone out for an early lunch together and it wasn’t until after they had finished eating that Maryse dropped this bombshell on him. 

In a fit of anger and annoyance he had stormed out of the restaurant with his mother close at his heels. 

“I won’t do it!”

“It’s an archery magazine, Alec. This won’t even be hard for you.” 

“Mum just stop it okay!” Alec stopped walking and turned around to face his mother, “Yes mostly they will talk to me about archery, but they’re also going to want me to do a photo shoot. You know I hate that. And...” He hesitated before continuing, “They’re going to want to talk about the wedding. Which is your main goal out of this right?”

When Maryse didn’t say anything, Alec continued, “What am I supposed to say about that? How can I tell them that I’m excited about this and that I’m so in love with Lydia when I’m not?”

Maryse’s eyes widened and she scanned the area around them, making sure there was no one nearby. 

“Be quiet, Alec!” She hissed, “You can’t go around shouting that out! You are going to do this interview, we need all the good press we can get. You will smile for their damn cameras and you will wax poetic about how wonderful Lydia is, do you understand me?” 

Alec had started walking again half way through her rant. He was almost home, maybe he could shut her out before she could come in..?

“I’m already going through with the wedding. Isn’t that enough?” They were at the house now and Alec let himself in, deciding it might be a bad idea in the long run to slam the door in his mother’s face. 

“No, it’s not enough Alec. If you want to help this family- Oh my god!” Maryse had bumped into Alec when he had frozen just a few steps into the house. When Maryse saw what he was looking at, a look of pure disgust radiated from her entire body. 

“Lydia Branwell, what the hell do you think you are doing?!” 

Alec was feeling a little shell-shocked. There on the sofa was Lydia, straddling a man with whom she had clearly just been making out with. 

Lydia seemed to be frozen, her wide eyes looking back at Maryse with something akin to fear in her eyes. 

In a flurry of sudden movement, Lydia jumped up, the man following her and they were both speedily straightening out their clothes. 

“Maryse I-” Lydia started.

“Stop.” Maryse held up her hand. Her eyes swept across to land on the still unknown man and she moved a few step closer to him. 

“Who are you?” The man visibly gulped. Alec had to admit, his mother could be really intimidating when she wanted to be.

“John. John Monteverde,” He said, finally. 

“John Monteverde,” Maryse repeated distastefully. She knew that name didn’t come from an affluent family so this man was nothing to her. 

Maryse made sure his full attention was on her and could understand how serious she was when she spoke, “You are to leave this house now and you will never come back. Do you understand?” 

John glanced sideways at Lydia before nodding and practically fleeing from the house. 

Maryse turned her murderous gaze back to Lydia, who looked close to tears. 

“Explain yourself, Miss Branwell.”

“I - I’m sorry. I don’t - I...” Alec felt pity welling up inside of him. He’d never heard Lydia so broken. 

“You are risking everything! Do you even understand what you’ve done?” Maryse began pacing as she shouted, “You are engaged to my son. I have allowed you to join with my family and this is how you repay us? Do you have any idea what would happen if anyone were to find out?”

Alec was still stood awkwardly as Maryse continued in her rage-

“Do you know how badly that would reflect on my family, your family? And with my family this goes all the way up to the Queen herself! How could you be so selfish? I don’t care that you’re not in love with my son, you cannot take the risk to find love yourself. Otherwise I will find you unsuitable for this match. How would your parents feel about that?”

Lydia looked at the ground. Alec could see tears dripping down her face. He’d had enough.

“Leave her alone, Mum. She understands, I’ll deal with it now.” Maryse looked at him, appraisingly. 

“Deal with it then, Alexander.” Thankfully, his mother left the house, slamming the front door behind her. He couldn’t help but think that maybe it would have been better to shut her out in the first place... 

Alec immediately moved to Lydia, pulling her into his arms as she cried. 

“I’m so sorry Lyds,” He made gentle movements with his hands up and down her back, “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have made sure she didn’t find out.” Alec took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, psyching himself up for what he had to say next. 

“But...now that she does know, you know this can’t go on right? I’m sorry but we can’t take these kinds of risks.”

Abruptly, Lydia was pushing him away from her. 

“’Can’t take these risks’? Don’t be such a hypocrite, Alec!” Alec was taken aback. 

“What-?”

“Don’t act like you haven’t been sleeping around with Magnus all this time!”

“What?!” Did she really think that? “Lydia, I haven’t even spoken to Magnus since...well...since I had coffee with him three weeks ago. Nothing ever happened!”

“Come off it, Alec. Since when do you lie to me? Why do you think I chose him as our fashion designer instead of someone famous?”

“You...you chose him just because you though we would hook up or something?” Alec felt rather betrayed on Magnus’ behalf, “Do you even like his work?”

“Of course I do. But the fact that he’s extremely talented is just a bonus Alec. I chose him for you,”

“I don’t understand. You were the one who split us up at the party.”

“Because you were about to out yourself and you couldn’t do that in public Alec. You would have hated yourself for it. I thought if I gave you a chance to be alone together then...well...” She trailed off. 

Alec sat down on the sofa and put his head in his hands. 

“So you thought if I was sleeping with Magnus it would make you feel better about sleeping with John?”

“God no! I just thought you might be happier if you could have someone to be with,”

“Happier? Are you kidding me right now, Lydia? Do you really think I could do that to my family? Take that risk? Because when things like this happen, people get caught. Things go wrong and I’ll end up ruining our family worse than it already is.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Alec sighed painfully.

”Yeah, so am I. Look Lydia, I don’t want to be that guy but you really can’t see John anymore. Your family are pressuring you into this just as much as mine are. We can’t let them down.” Lydia moved to sit next to Alec, their legs pressing together.

“I know,” She said quietly, “So...you really haven’t been with Magnus?” Alec just shook his head, “But you like him?” Alec’s silence spoke volumes. Lydia wrapped her arms around him.

“What a pair we make, hmm?” 

As they sat there in a comforting embrace, Alec couldn’t help but think about Magnus. By the Angels how he missed him. 

After having coffee together, Magnus had texted Alec a fair amount. Alec had never replied. He couldn’t. How could he lead Magnus on like that? Magnus had finally given up with the texting after a week and a half. 

He wondered if Magnus was upset by Alec’s lack of response. He hoped not. Maybe Magnus didn’t like Alec as much as Alec liked him. That would be better in the long run, at least Magnus wouldn’t get hurt. 

~~~

Alec awoke with a start. He was still on the sofa and a blanket had been draped over him. He must have fallen asleep when he was with Lydia. God what a mess they were in. 

He blearily checked his phone. It was only 2pm so he hadn’t been asleep for that long. With a groan, he sat up and pushed the blanket to the other side of the sofa. 

He thought about all the things he needed to do, but couldn’t really be bothered to do any of it. He needed to check some of his students work, he probably needed to call his mother, he was supposed to call the people for that stupid interview, he needed to do the grocery shopping since it was his turn this week...and so much more he couldn’t bring himself to worry about. 

He was just considering getting up to do... _something_ , when his phone rang. Checking the ID, he saw it was Madeline. 

“Uh, hi.”

“Hey, Alec I’m glad I could reach you, Lydia isn’t picking up.”

“What’s uh...is there a problem?”

“No, we just need to have a look at different cake options and taste some samples, are you both free now?”

”Cake? Seriously?”

“Excuse me?”

“The wedding is so far away. Do we really have to do this now?”

Madeline huffed audibly in annoyance, “This is why I usually call Lydia. _Men_. You’re all so insistent that no actual planning goes into your weddings. Just tell me if you’re free or not?”

“Let me find Lydia. I’ll get her to call you back as soon as I do, okay?”

“Alright.” Alec hung up the phone before Madeline could say anything else. He jogged up the stairs and went to knock at Lydia’s bedroom door. 

His hunch about her whereabouts had been correct, as he heard some shuffling before the door opened. Lydia looked like she’d been crying some more.

Figuring she wouldn’t want to talk about it now, Alec chose to pretend he didn’t notice. He briefly told her about Madeline’s call, and that’s how he found himself spending the rest of the day in about ten different bakeries discussing the pros and cons of different styles and flavours of cake.

~~~

Alec was exhausted by the time he and Lydia returned home at around 9pm that night. Who knew tasting cakes could be so tiring? 

He said goodnight and went straight up to his room. It took him only moments to fall asleep after changing and crawling under his duvet. 

A shrill ringing sound woke him.

Blearily, he fumbled around on his bedside table to grab the offending object. He almost threw the phone across the room when he saw it was Magnus calling. But then he saw the time. It was almost 2am.

Why would Magnus be calling him at 2am? Something must have been wrong.

“Magnus?”

“Alec, you need to get down to the police station right now.” He was immediately wide awake and sat up in his bed. 

“Why, what happened?”

There was a small pause before Magnus spoke again,

“Isabelle’s been arrested.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter feels a little bit rushed to me, but I've been super busy lately so it will have to do! It was really hard for me to have this ready to post today!  
> There's not too much of this story left, perhaps another two or three chapters!! It will be my first multi-chap story that I've ever finished! Yay me!  
> Anyway...  
> Enjoy! ~~

Alec had never dressed so quickly in his life. Within the space of two minutes he was more or less presentable and flying out of his house. 

He was pretty sure he was speeding as he was driving, but what did it matter really? He was on his way to the police station after all. 

Within thirty minutes Alec found himself jogging into the police station, his phone out and ready to call Magnus, when he realized he didn’t have to. 

He could see Magnus’ back off to one side of the waiting room as he was talking - or really it looked like quietly arguing - with Luke. 

Alec began making his way towards them and he could slowly begin making out what they were saying.

“...ridiculous, Luke! You can’t keep her here!” Luke sighed.

“You know I don’t want to, Magnus, but this isn’t my call,”

“Um...hey,” Alec awkwardly announced himself. Magnus spun around faster than Alec would have thought possible and there was a very odd few seconds where the two just stared at each other. 

“Alec, thank god your here,” Luke said, successfully breaking the moment, “Everything’s going to hell here right now.”

“Why? What happened? Magnus didn’t tell me on the phone. Why has Izzy been arrested?”

“She was out in a club with friends when that ex of hers showed up,”

“Meliorn?” Alec questioned.

“Yeah that’s him, he’s in here too. We’re not too sure about the details but apparently he was jealous of Isabelle dancing with someone else and started a fight. Isabelle was involved,”

“Would you stop saying that?!” Magnus finally input to the explanation, “Izzy was not involved! All she did was try to break them up,”

“Magnus she was seen punching Meliorn by my colleagues when they arrived at the club. No matter what her motive, she was involved.” 

Magnus huffed and angrily dropped down into one of the chairs near to them. 

“Are you serious?” 

“I wish I wasn’t, Alec. And it’s not my arrest so I can’t get her out tonight, I’m sorry.” 

“Did you call our mum?” Luke hesitated.

“I don’t think anyone has. Izzy’s an adult so we don’t automatically have to inform your parents.”

“Is there any chance we can keep this from them?”

“They won’t find out from us, but I can’t guarantee that no one at the club will talk. Or that no one took pictures. We’ll have to keep an eye on social media before we know for sure.”

“Shit,” Alec mumbled. This was bad. Of course someone would have taken pictures. This was going to be all over the news again. “Can I see her?”

“Not now, I’m afraid. Magnus came in with her so he was with her for a little while before getting kicked out here.” One of Luke’s fellow officer’s called him away, and Luke promised he’d get them some information soon, before leaving.

Alec turned his attention back to Magnus and sat down in a chair opposite him, “Was she okay?”

“Angry. But okay.” Magnus’ answer was short and sharp. Alec could have put it down to Magnus being worked up over that evening, but seeing the look on Magnus’ face was enough for him to know that wasn’t the case.

Magnus was angry at him. Probably wishing that he didn’t have to see Alec now at all. Alec didn’t blame him. 

“So, you were with her when it happened?”

“Yes.”

“Did she, or you, get hurt?”

“No.”

“Alright,” Alec sighed, “Look, Magnus...I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what, exactly?” Alec flinched at the harsh tone.

“You have every right to be mad at me, I know. I shouldn’t have ignored you.”

Magnus huffed out an unfriendly laugh.

“Don’t bother, Alec. I get it, okay? You don’t like me. It’s fine. You don’t have to try to be nice because of what’s happening,”

“That’s...that’s not...I...” Alec was saved from figuring out what to say next by the return of Luke. 

“Good news, Alec. Since you’re here and Izzy’s calmed down enough now, they’re gonna let her out to go home with you.”

Alec let out an audible sigh of relief, “They’re just bringing her out. She won’t be long.”

“Thank you, Luke,”

“No worries, Kid.” Alec saw Izzy out the corner of his eye and in a flash he was by her side and enveloping her in a tight hug. 

“You do like to make life difficult for me, don’t you?” He spoke quietly to her, but still fondly.

“I do.” Izzy smiled, “I’m sorry though. Thanks for coming down here.” 

“As if I wouldn’t,”

“True,” Izzy giggled. Alec glanced over and saw Magnus watching the scene between them. 

“Iz, just wait a second okay? I just want to talk to Magnus before we leave.” Izzy winked at him.

“No problem, big brother,”

Alec tried to mentally prepare himself as he walked back across the room, bringing himself face to face with Magnus once more.

“Magnus...I know that you really don’t want to talk to me, but...thank you. Thank you for coming here with her and letting me know about it. Thank you,” Alec took a deep breath, “And if there’s anything you need, let me know. You know, so I can say thank you better.”

Magnus silently observed Alec for a few moments. “You.” He said, simply.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You, Alexander. You’re what I want.”

“Magnus-” He cut Alec off before he could finish,

“Alec, after our talk in the coffee shop it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s happening between you and Lydia. And yes, family is important. But, should you decide to put yourself first for once, let me know.”

“Magnus...” Alec started again, “You know I...that I want...but I can’t. If there’s anything else you want, you can ask.”

“You don’t have to marry her.”

“Yes, I do Magnus,”

“If you go through with this, you’ll be lonely all your life and so will she. Neither of you deserve it. And I don’t either,”

Alec tried his best to ignore the hurt in Magnus’ eyes, but failed miserably. He didn’t know what to say to make any of this better. 

Annoyingly, Magnus looked like he understood. Alec wished that he didn’t have to. 

“I guess it’s time for me to go. Goodbye Alexander.” Without more words, Alec watched as Magnus glided from the room, stopping only to hug Izzy and kiss her cheek, before disappearing out of the police station.

~~~

Alec was sat in a rather uncomfortable chair with bright lights filtering down onto his face, trying not to squirm whilst one woman was busy trying to apply make up to his face and another was trying to tame the mess that was his hair. 

The interview in the archery magazine had been bad enough. But now after everything that had happened with Isabelle, Alec’s mother had got him an exclusive interview with HELLO magazine. 

Of course Isabelle getting arrested hadn’t stayed quiet for long. It hadn’t made the news, but some photos were floating around online and only a day later Maryse had received a phone call from Jia Penhallow, Aline’s mother, and suddenly the cat was out of the bag. 

Alec wasn’t sure he’d ever seen his mother so angry before, and abruptly found himself once again being used in the position to try and sweep everything under the rug and show that the Lightwood’s really were a decent family. 

Maryse had said she couldn’t trust Isabelle to give a sincere interview to explain everything, so Alec would have to do it for her, whilst overshadowing those problems with talk of his upcoming wedding. Killing two birds with one stone, she said. 

There was no denying it, Alec was terrified. He didn’t know what to do. Maryse had gone so far as to even tell him what to say, but Alec wasn’t sure he could pull it off.

Finally, the girls deemed that he was done and he was quickly ushered towards a blue screen and lots more lights. 

Lydia was already there, looking amazing.

He crossed his arms, feeling uncomfortable as he stood in front of the camera with her and the people around them did their pre-shoot preparations. 

“Feeling okay, Alec?” Lydia asked him.

“Sure. Totally. Completely fine.” They smiled at each other as Lydia saw through his lie but chose not to mention it.

“Hi, Mr Lightwood, Miss Branwell, my name is Becca.” The girl introduced herself and shook Alec’s hand.

“Hi, please call me Lydia, and you can call him Alec,”

“Alright, Lydia, Alec,” Becca smiled, “I’ll be in charge of the shoot today. Don’t look so nervous! It’s gonna be great, okay?” Alec just nodded and shrugged, whilst Lydia spoke to her for a moment about what the pictures would be like.

“Try to relax, the prep will be done in about five minutes, then we can get started, okay?”

“Sure.” 

Alec was relieved that he wasn’t here alone. He’d had to do the archery interview by himself and that had been a complete train wreck that he was so glad was over. 

Lydia would help him through this, he knew, but he really wished Izzy was there with him. He knew she would calm him down and make him forget about why he was really there. Unfortunately, their mother practically had Izzy under house arrest after what had happened. 

She hadn’t even let her go into classes at university all week.

But there was nothing that Alec could do about it now. He was here and by the looks of things, the shoot was about to begin. 

He tried just to focus on Lydia as Becca attempted to direct them into the poses that she wanted, but it was so difficult when he had so much on his mind. 

He hadn’t stopped thinking about Magnus’ words since they had spoken at the police station, either. Something about them just really sat with him. 

Part of it made Alec feel an undeniable warm happiness spread throughout his whole body. Magnus wanted him. Really wanted him. After all the awkward and perhaps rude things that Alec had done, Magnus still wanted to be with him. 

Alas, his happiness was always dashed almost instantly when he remembered that it couldn’t happen. Why did he have to be born into the Royal line again? Not for the first time Alec wondered what it might be like to be a normal person, without all the responsibilities that he had. 

Lydia placed her arms around Alec’s neck from behind. Becca had stood her on a box so Lydia could lean over him. He guessed it was supposed to look cute or something.

“Smile, Alec.” Lydia whispered in his ear. 

He managed a small smile for approximately ten seconds, before it fell again. 

Much to Alec’s delight, Becca announced the shoot was over. There were at least a couple of good photos that they could use in the magazine spread with the interview. 

God, the interview. Alec felt his pulse quicken as they were led over to the journalist who they would have to talk to. 

He grabbed Lydia’s hand, needing to feel the support. Lydia just squeezed his hand and smiled at him, which was all Alec needed to know that she was there and was going to help him through this. 

Perhaps she was just as nervous as him. Alec would never know, Lydia always seemed so calm and in control. 

~~~

Actually, the interview wasn’t going so badly. Lydia was doing most of the talking and Alec felt that his input was more or less okay. At least he managed to answer the questions with stuttering too much or just shouting out about how much of a farce this whole wedding was.

It was all almost perfect - until the last moment. 

“...just so excited about it, you know?” Lydia was saying and the journalist was nodding along because of course she understood people were excited about their weddings, “We decided we just couldn’t wait and we’ve moved the date forward,”

What?

Alec turned to look at his fiance. What the hell had she just said?

“Oh really? That sounds great! It’s so nice to see a young couple so enthusiastic about starting their lives together! When have you moved it to?”

“Well, Alec has to work a lot but we’ll be getting married during the Christmas holidays,”

“Oh! A Christmas wedding! That’s going to be fantastic!”

Christmas? But that was only a month away...

How could they be getting married already? When had this been decided? Why had no one told him? Especially when he had this interview to do. 

Some time during his internal freak out, Alec had failed to notice that the interviewer must have asked him a question. 

“Mr Lightwood? Alec?”

“Alec!” He came back to himself when Lydia not so subtly kicked him under the table, coupled with calling his name after he failed to respond to the interviewer.

“I’m so sorry, um...what?”

“I was just asking you about your best man, Jace Wayland. How does he feel about the new wedding date?”

_I have no idea_ , Alec thought to himself, _how could I know that when I didn’t know myself_?

Fortunately, he didn’t say that out loud.

“Um, yeah. He’s...happy for me.”

That was all Alec said for the rest of the interview. Admittedly there wasn’t really anything else that the interviewer asked, but Lydia dealt with it all. 

There was a quiet rage building inside of Alec that he knew Lydia could sense. 

He was just grateful that he kept it in check until they were alone and got back to their car. 

“What the hell, Lydia?!” She flinched at his tone. 

“I’m sorry, Alec. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Sorry? For dropping that huge bombshell in the middle of an interview? When was this even decided? Why did no one bother to consult me?”

“Maryse decided a couple of days ago. Said we needed to do it sooner to get rid of any bad press related to Izzy. She made me promise not to tell you.”

“When would that have ever stopped you before?” At least Lydia had to decency to look ashamed, Alec thought. 

“Maryse said you couldn’t know until the interview because she knew you would fight it. And after everything that happened with John...well...your mother scares me, Alec. I was too scared to go back on my promise to her,”

“I can’t believe any of this.” Alec brooded all the way home, refusing to say anything else. 

He stormed straight up to his bedroom when they got back. He knew he was being a little childish, but he was pretty sure he had the right to be at the moment, considering the circumstances and all that. 

He also couldn’t but hate the fact that all he wanted to do was call Magnus and talk to him. He wanted to talk to that man more than anything in the world. 

He only just managed to stop himself. His phone was in his hand, Magnus’ number highlighted on the screen, but he just couldn’t use Magnus like that. 

No matter how much he wanted to, no matter how much he knew Magnus would make him feel better just by hearing his voice, he couldn’t.

It wasn’t fair to either of them. It was better to keep this radio silence that they had going.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi All!  
> An early chapter! I've been on such a roll this week with writing and I'm pretty happy with how this chapter has turned out so I thought I'd post early!  
> I can almost hear wedding bells, they're coming soon! We just need to get through a little more angst first...!  
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated as always!  
> Enjoy :) ~~

As it turned out, the radio silence between Alec and Magnus didn’t last that long at all. Alec wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he couldn’t deny how his heart skipped a beat when he checked to see who had text him and saw Magnus’ name. 

**/From Magnus/** \- I need to talk to you. It’s about your wedding clothes, please - it’s important.

The unwritten ‘please don’t ignore me this time’ was clear from the style of writing. Magnus didn’t have to worry about that this time, Alec already knew he was going to reply. It did sound serious after all.

**/To Magnus/** \- I’m teaching until 5, shall I come over when I’m done?

The response came almost instantly - 

**/From Magnus/** \- Okay

Alec frowned. That felt a little anti climactic. Never mind, at least he was going to see Magnus. He couldn’t help but wonder what was so important that Magnus needed him for right away. 

Needless to say, he found himself a little distracted in his last two classes of the day. It didn’t matter, if his students noticed at all they would just think it was something to do with his wedding. 

Alec sat in his car for a good five minutes before getting out. 

This would be the first time they had been completely alone since...since when? Alec could barely even remember. Those few months ago when Magnus had made cocktails was the last time they had been truly alone together. 

And back then Alec had nearly kissed him, then they had fallen asleep cuddled on the sofa. 

He couldn’t let anything like that happen this time. 

Magnus let Alec up into the building quickly and Alec found the door to his flat already open when he finally reached the right floor, but he couldn’t see Magnus anywhere. 

“Hello? Magnus?” Alec took a few slow steps into the flat and shut the door quietly behind him. “You said you needed to talk to me?”

Magnus emerged from the kitchen, holding two glasses of wine. 

“Nice to see you Alec. I wasn’t really sure if you’d come,” He held out one of the glasses and offered it to Alec, “You know how I hate to drink alone.” He added, after Alec had taken the glass. 

Alec’s mind took him straight back to that night on the sofa...god he had to stop thinking about that.

With a deep exhale, Alec moved to put the glass down on the coffee table near to said sofa he’d just been thinking about. He really needed to keep a clear head around this man. 

“I didn’t come here to drink. You said it was important, what’s wrong?”

The older man was then treated to a moment he was sure was usually completely unheard of. Magnus looked awkward and embarrassed. He couldn’t hold Alec’s gaze and seemed to be looking at a spot on the floor somewhere behind and just to the right of Alec. 

Feeling a surge of protectiveness, Alec took a step closer to Magnus. He didn’t want to make things weird, he didn’t want to see Magnus looking embarrassed about something. He didn’t think that was even possible, the younger man had seemed completely immune to any kind of embarrassment.

“I...I just...” Alec was stunned. Had he fallen into an alternate reality? Since when did Magnus stutter?

“Hey, it’s okay,” Alec tried to be a little comforting, “Whatever you need to tell me can’t be that bad, right?”

“Well...you remember you said that if I needed anything...that I could ask you. So you could say thank you for helping with Isabelle?”

“Of course I remember. What do you need?”

Magnus carefully placed his wineglass on the kitchen counter and turned away from Alec, his hands resting on the surface keeping himself pushed upright. 

“I don’t like to admit this, Alexander. And I need you to promise you’re not going to let this get any further than us.”

“Let what get any further than us?”

“Your wedding is a huge project. One that someone like me could usually only dream of, let alone get the chance to do it,” He paused for a moment, before continuing, “I only graduated university last year, I’ve had a few little jobs to do here and there but nothing substantial until this.”

Magnus slowly turned to look at Alec, who was patiently waiting for him to get to the point.

“The materials for your outfits are exquisite, Lydia’s dress has diamonds and all kinds of other accessories. I had to choose the best because of your high status’. And when the wedding was a year away, the fact that the agreement was to be paid after the wedding was okay. I could have bought pieces slowly over time and had other work to supplement myself and the costs.” 

Magnus met Alec’s eyes, pleading that he would understand so that Magnus wouldn’t have to admit out loud what was wrong. He could almost see the cogs turning in Alec’s mind as he figured out the problem. 

“Are you...are you asking for money?”

Magnus turned away again, unable to keep looking. 

“I’m sorry...I had to cancel all the other work I had right now with the wedding being so close. It’s not easy just being out of education. Most of my money just covers my living expenses. I can’t afford to lose this job, Alec. If I’m not ready in time I’ll have nothing, including no job because who would ever hire someone who can’t finish their project on time? Or to the right quality? I can’t make you two walk down the aisle in some crappy fabric that makes your skin crawl.”

Magnus took a deep, shuddering breath as his rant finally came to end. He still had his back to Alec. Alec spent a few minutes forming an answer in his head, during which time Magnus was the one mentally freaking out for a change.

“I understand,” Alec said, at last, “I know it’s not easy. I’m sorry that my mother has had to put you through this. Thank you for asking for my help, really. I can get you the money you need. I don’t want you to lose out on anything.”

Gradually, Magnus’ shoulders seemed to relax a little. Alec walked forward until he was stood in front of him. 

“You don’t have to be ashamed, okay? It’s my family’s fault that we got you in this mess, so I’ll help you.”

“Really?” He just heard Magnus ask, timidly. 

“Really. It’s not a problem, alright? Just let me know how much and I’ll get it to you.”

“This says a lot about you, Alexander. I could tell you any amount and you’d trust me and give it to me anyway, wouldn’t you?” Ah, there was the confident and cocky Magnus that Alec remembered. 

“Yes.” Magnus looked a little taken aback by the blunt response, but didn’t exactly seem unhappy about it.

“Well, aren’t you lucky that I don’t plan on taking advantage of you like that. But, thank you.”

“No problem.” Magnus took a sip of his wine and faced Alec fully, a new look in his eyes, which Alec couldn’t figure out the meaning of. 

“You know, we never really finished our conversation after Izzy got out of the station. About your wedding.”

Alec felt all his defenses going back up. He didn’t want to talk about this...it was too painful. 

“There’s no conversation to be had,” Alec inwardly winced at his harsh tone, but perhaps the harder he was the more likely Magnus would be to stop, “I’m getting married. You and I, we understand marriage very differently. I’m part of the Royal family, this is about family, tradition, honour.”

“Honour?” Magnus questioned, interrupting, “Where’s the honour in living a lie?” He looked truly confused by this. 

“What are you talking about?”

“What about...love? Even Royalty falls in love, Alec. Just tell me you’re in love with Lydia and I’ll stop.”

Magnus had gotten so close to him. He could barely think straight, all he could do was stare down into those eyes that had so captivated him since the first time they had ever met. Could he really lie now?

“I don’t know.” Okay, apparently he could manage almost lying. This was for the best after all, “Why do you keep pushing? This is...you...you’re confusing me.” Oh god this was bad, he was being so rude again. He pushed past Magnus to put space between them. 

He couldn’t go back on his word to his family. Magnus was finally going to have to learn to accept that. 

“Confusion is part of it,” Alec almost rolled his eyes, he hadn’t expected Magnus to let go without a fight, but he’d hoped that he would. It would have been so much easier, “That’s how you find out if somethings there. Emotions are never black and white, they’re more like symptoms.” 

Magnus had such a nice way with words. Why couldn’t Alec be like that? 

Magnus had descended upon Alec’s personal space once more and leant in close,

“You lose your breath every time they enter a room,” He was speaking slowly, his voice a little deeper than normal. Alec felt a shudder pass through him and well, he knew what Magnus said was true. 

“Your heart beats faster when they walk by,” Magnus had circled behind Alec and he could feel the other mans presence so strongly even though they weren’t touching. His heart was pounding.

“Your skin tingles when they stand close enough to feel their breath,” He knew Magnus was close to him. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining Magnus’ breath on his neck or not, but either way he could feel something. He felt himself break out in goose bumps. 

“I know you feel what I feel, Alec.”

Yes. He did. No matter how much he would deny it to everyone else, Alec wasn’t going to deny it to himself. 

It would be so easy...he could just grab Magnus and kiss him. Kiss him like he’d been wanting to for all these months. He was so close, he could feel his resolve slipping away...when he remembered Lydia. 

He’d made her stay away from John. How could he knowingly be with Magnus when he’d done that to her? 

This had to stop. Now.

Alec’s resolve and his gaze hardened, “You don’t have any clue what I feel. So back off.” He could feel his heart breaking into tiny little pieces. It was made even worse by the look on Magnus’ face. He knew Magnus was feeling his pain, too.

Alec had to turn away, walking back towards the front door.

“It’s all just a game to you, isn’t it? You flirt, you laugh, but at the end of the day what do you risk? Even if I did feel something for you,” _I do, I do_ , “You want me to give up my life for you? I have to do what’s right for me. I could lose my family, my career...everything. You just don’t get it.”

Magnus had steeled himself during Alec’s speech. His face gave away nothing as he spoke,

“You have a choice to make. I will not ask again,”

When Alec finally had the guts to look back at Magnus, the other man was sat on the sofa, resolutely staring at the wall away from Alec.

“I’ll make sure you get the money,” Magnus didn’t respond.

“I’m sorry.” He added, so quietly that he couldn’t be sure if Magnus had even heard him. He fled from the flat as fast as he could before he could find out.

What had he done? How did his life become so seriously messed up like this? How did this great guy appear right at the wrong time? If only they had met before all this drama. 

He hated himself for being like that to Magnus. All he could do was hope that his family really appreciated what he was doing for them. Apart from Izzy and Jace of course. He knew they weren’t appreciating it. And that if they were there would have been screaming at him to run back into that house and apologize and kiss Magnus senseless until neither of them could breath. 

He wanted to. He wished with all his heart that he could. He was never going to admit this to anyone, but when he got back in his car he dropped his head onto the steering wheel and cried. 

Alec couldn’t even remember the last time he had cried. That was how badly this situation was really affecting him. It took him a good thirty minutes before he was composed enough to drive home. 

Lydia was in the living room when he got back and he saw the concern on her face the moment he stepped inside. He knew he must look like a wreck.

He held up a hand when it looked like she was going to speak, he didn’t want to talk. He hurried up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door behind him as he collapsed onto his bed, breaking down once more. 

~~~

Alec was getting more and more agitated the closer it got to his wedding date. It was the 20th of December and he’d just finished his last day of the school term.

He hadn’t even thought about buying anyone a Christmas gift. Hopefully they would forgive him. Or hopefully someone had taken pity and got his gifts for him, but he didn’t think he was that lucky. 

Just two more days before his wedding. Everything was prepared and ready to go. He’d seen Magnus a couple of times since there argument, but Alec always made sure there was someone there with them. 

It was usually Jace, since the best man had to make sure Alec’s suit was good enough. Of course it was. Magnus had designed and made it after all. 

True to his word, Alec had sent Magnus the money he needed for materials. Magnus had been quick to clarify that this was just a partial advance on his paycheck. He didn’t want charity. 

Magnus had also acted completely professional when he’d seen Alec. You’d have never known they actually knew each other quite well. 

Alec had to remind himself constantly that it was for the best. And Magnus wasn’t actually invited to the wedding anyway, his mother didn’t think it was appropriate. Sure he’d designed all the clothes, but he still wasn’t of a ‘high enough class’ to be allowed entry himself. Alec had wanted to argue, but realized it would be absolutely impossible to marry Lydia with Magnus watching him. 

To make things worse though, Maryse had made sure that the wedding was being filmed. By the BBC. It was going to be broadcast live on national television. Like he wasn’t nervous enough already...

His students had all assured him that they would be watching. His life sucked so badly. They were going to mock him so much when he got back to school. 

In some ways it was good that he wasn’t going back as soon as the new term started. His mother had taken the liberty of applying for his own time off...so he could go on his honeymoon. That didn’t even bear thinking about. 

Izzy watched from the sofa as Alec paced around the living room. 

“Alec, would you please stop? You’ve been pacing for the last half hour,”

“Sorry,” He sat down, but immediately his legs started to bounce and he kept looking around the room like something was about to jump out at him. 

“Seriously, Alec you need to calm down.” Isabelle slipped off her seat and moved to kneel in front of Alec and carefully taking hold of his hands in a calming gesture, “I know you’re scared and I know you don’t want to do this. Remember it’s not too late to call off the wedding.”

“Yes it is, Izzy. Everyone’s coming, it’s going to be on the TV for god’s sake. How could I cancel now?”

“Just don’t think about it. Think about yourself for the first time in your life. Be selfish.”

“I...I can’t.”

“Think about Magnus,”

Alec froze, “Why should I think about him?”

“I’m not blind, big brother. I know how you feel about him,”

“Iz don’t. Please,” He begged, “I can’t talk about him,”

Izzy sighed and looked up at Alec, the pain in her eyes reflecting his own. 

“You should talk about him. He could make you happy,”

“Yeah he could, or he could not. It doesn’t matter either way. I’m marrying Lydia.”

“Please don’t ruin your life for this family,” She pleaded, “I mean...whatever you decide in the end I’ll support you. But I need you to know that you don’t have to do this for us.”

“That means a lot, it really does. But I want to do this.”

“Okay.” 

“Okay?”

“Okay. You’ve always been there for me. You know I’ll be there for you, always.” Alec stood up, keeping Izzy’s hand gripped in his. He couldn’t help but tease her just a little-

“Just stop planning on how to sneak Meliorn in, okay? As much as I’d love to see mum freak out, I don’t think I can handle the extra stress,”

“What? How did you know...?”

“You think you’re the only who sees things?” He sent his sister a small smile, “I know you’re back together. I’m happy for you. Just don’t bring him.”

Izzy was so shocked she started laughing hard on the living room floor. With another smile, Alec shook his head fondly at his sister and went into the kitchen to find them some food.


	8. Chapter 8

If he just stayed in bed and refused to get up, would that mean he wouldn’t have to get married? Or perhaps if he did wake up right now, he would realize that everything had been one big terrible nightmare and he wasn’t getting married anyway.

That dream was shattered approximately 10 seconds later when he opened his eyes and saw his wedding suit hanging on his wardrobe. 

At least he wasn’t hungover. Izzy had wanted to throw him a bachelor party, but he had outright refused. It wasn’t something he wanted at all. There was nothing to celebrate.

As if she had some kind of sixth sense for people waking up, Isabelle was suddenly barging into Alec’s room without knocking and jumping onto his bed.

“Time to get up, big brother! You’re getting married!” Was that supposed to make him happier? He didn’t say anything like that, he didn’t want to hurt his sister. Izzy threw her arms around Alec and held him tightly.

“You’re leaving with mum, dad and Jace in an hour and a half. So get up showered and dressed so I can mess with your hair before you go!”

“I wish you were coming with us too.” Izzy squeezed him tighter for a moment.

“I wish I was too. But I’ll be with Lydia, not so far behind you. Come on.” She began pushing him towards the edge of his bed until he nearly fell out. 

“Okay, okay! I’m up.”

The time before he left the house passed in one all to quick blur for Alec. As he was putting on his suit he couldn’t help but think of Magnus. Would he be watching the wedding? Probably not. He guessed it was probably a bit of a kick in the teeth to see someone you liked getting married to someone else. 

~~~

Alec’s heart was racing. He’d just spoken to the Queen. The actual _Queen_. How had the fact that she would be attending his wedding slipped his mind? Of course they were family, but he hadn’t thought it was important enough to warrant an appearance from her. 

He wondered if she knew the real reason why he and Lydia were getting married. The chances were slim, but wouldn’t it be interesting if she did?

It was all getting more and more nerve wracking. Everyone he knew was there. All his family, all his friends, and even a lot of people he didn’t know who he guessed were there for Lydia. He had spotted her parents earlier, looking very smug with themselves. 

He was stood at the base of the altar with Jace, looking around at all the people and at the Abbey itself. Not even he could deny how beautiful it was there. 

There were cameras everywhere. No spot was safe. He was pretty sure they weren’t broadcasting yet, but they had definitely already started filming things. Others were taking photos too. He was trying his best to appear happy and just that little bit nervous that people are before their weddings. 

He didn’t want to show everyone just how scared he was that he was almost shaking. He probably would have been, if Jace weren’t with him. 

There were now just fifteen minutes before the wedding would begin.

Maryse and Robert walked down the aisle arm-in-arm, only letting go once they reached Alec and Jace. Maryse was positively glowing as she looked at Alec.

“I’ll admit,” She started, “I was worried about how all this would turn out after everything’s that happened, but you’ve made me so proud,” Maryse smoothed her hands over Alec’s jacket, removing some crease that probably no one else had even noticed. Alec tried to smile at her, but he could tell it came out as more of a grimace. 

It was okay, she didn’t expect him to reply and wandered off to take her seat. Robert held out his hand and Alec gripped it tightly within his own. 

His father looked proud too, but also a little apprehensive. Perhaps he didn’t want this union quite as much as Maryse did either. Before Alec could really process that, his father had walked away to sit next to his wife. 

Jace and Alec turned to each other.

“Alright, you ready for this?” Jace asked, mirroring Maryse’s previous movements and straightening out Alec’s jacket.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. I’m glad you’re here with me.”

“Wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Jace assured him, and gently pat Alec’s shoulders in a show of brotherly affection and support. 

“Try to relax, Alec. Don’t worry. You look good.” Alec almost laughed, of course Jace would focus on the aesthetic side of things. 

But for once he knew that he did look perfect. Magnus had done an excellent job after all. 

He was wearing a pale golden jacket with darker golden patterns flowing across it over the top of a crisp white shirt. His black dress trousers fit him like a second skin and were seriously comfortable as well as looking amazing. The look was completed with a black bow tie. 

Gold was obviously not the traditional wedding colour, but it was the Lightwood family colour. For generations Lightwood’s had been getting married in gold, and that wasn’t going to change any time soon. 

Alec was a little curious about Lydia’s dress. All he knew was that it would also be gold. He was sure she would look fantastic. 

The clock was counting down, only five minutes before the start. He heard someone shout and knew that they were now broadcasting live on TV. Alec avoided looking directly at any of the cameras, choosing instead to look at Jace or at the floor around him. 

Madeline came hurrying over.

“Gentlemen! You look wonderful. It’s time, take your places please.” Together, they walked up the few steps to the alter and stood in their places on the left hand side. 

Alec took a deep breath. He could do this. 

Jace nudged him in a last show of support that he could give...and then the music started. 

The whole wedding was a little non-traditional really, since Jace wasn’t there to walk down the isle with Izzy. And Izzy was both maid of honour and ring bearer, but that didn’t matter to Alec at all. It felt more like them this way. 

Isabelle looked even more stunning than usual as she stepped into the Church and began the long walk down the isle. She smiled brightly at everyone as she gracefully walked to the front of the room, wearing a floor-length deep golden dress which looked a little like water gliding over her skin. 

Even Maryse smiled when she saw her. 

Reaching the front, Izzy climbed the stairs and took her place on the right of Alec, leaving enough room for Lydia to stand between them. 

Alec felt his heart stop when Lydia appeared in his line of vision. 

Her dress was beautiful. Pale gold, similar to Alec’s jacket, the top corset was decorated with sparkling diamonds and gems which glittered as she moved. The lower half had some patterns stitched into it, but she was too far away for Alec to tell what they were, and it stretched down to the floor with a small train behind her as she walked smoothly down the aisle, her father at her side to give her away. 

Her hair was magnificent. It must have taken such a long time and effort. Alec could appreciate that. 

They were walking so slowly, he almost felt like they would never get there. 

He was going to panic. He felt his hands start to shake. No, no, no. He couldn’t do this. He really couldn’t do this. How could he ruin both their lives just for his family? He couldn’t. But he had to, right?

“It’s okay, Alec.” He heard Jace whisper to him, he’d obviously noticed Alec’s inner panic. 

“Jace...I...”

“Just smile at your bride, it’s okay.” Alec took another deep breath and tried to do as Jace asked. 

Lydia and her father had finally reached the base of the altar. Her father kissed her cheek and easily let go of her so she could move towards Alec, who held out his hand to help her climb the stairs. He didn’t think she needed the help, but it was the right thing to do. 

Besides, he was sure she would be mortified if she tripped and fell during her wedding. 

Lydia couldn’t stop smiling at him, she was a much better actor than Alec was.

Alec glanced around at all the faces once more, the Queen was smiling happily at them he noticed, then took hold of Lydia’s hand as they turned to face the officiant. 

He talked for a long time, which really didn’t help Alec’s inner panic. Couldn’t he be quicker about this? Alec just wanted it over with. He could feel Lydia getting a little twitchy with impatience too, but a quick look at her showed that she still had that perfect smile in place. 

Finally, _finally_ it was time for the vows. Izzy held out the small velvet platter she was holding and Lydia picked up the ring for Alec. Alec caught Izzy’s gaze. She wasn’t smiling anymore. She looked almost solemn. Were people supposed to look that way at a wedding? She must have been really worried about him, Alec thought. 

Lydia unfailing repeated all the words she was supposed to, and lifted Alec’s hand. The ring had just touched his finger when a loud bang which sounded like a lot like a slamming door, echoed throughout the church. 

What was going on? Everyone had jumped at the noise and turned to the back of the room. There was nothing for a few moments, and then Magnus Bane himself appeared from a side room of the church. 

Alec’s heart stopped again, before beating at about five times it’s normal pace. Magnus stopped a few steps down the aisle and made eye contact with Alec. Even from that far away, Alec could see the determination in his face. 

And oh, but he looked gorgeous. All in black and with a hint of red on the tips of his hair...he was completely striking. 

“What’s that designer doing here?” As usual, Maryse had very little tact or subtlety. Looking between Magnus and Alec, seeing the look on her son’s face, it didn’t take much for her to put two and two together. 

Izzy let out a small relieved sigh. 

“Izzy, did Alec invite Magnus?” Alec barely heard Jace’s whisper. Why did he sound so worried? Oh god...did he know how he felt about Magnus too? Who didn’t know?

“I did,” Izzy replied quickly. And really, Alec should have known she would do something like this, “And I helped sneak him in...but it was getting so late...I didn’t think he was going to do it.” Alec could hear the joy in her voice. 

Alec and Magnus were still staring at each other. Maryse stood from her seat, marching towards Magnus. 

Magnus steadily moved forward, making the distance between them smaller. They were at the middle of the aisle when they met.

“Magnus, leave this wedding _now_ ,” Magnus held up a hand to silence her, walking past her a few steps before stopping. 

“Maryse this is between me and your son, I’ll leave if he asks me to.” Maryse was horrified. She seemed shocked into standing there, not doing anything. Magnus had spared her a look as he passed, but now he connected back to Alec. 

Alec was having trouble making air go into his body. 

“You gonna be okay, buddy?” Alec heard Jace ask, but he couldn’t speak. Oh hell this was all on TV. Who even knew how many people were watching this happen right then. 

“Alec, hey,” Lydia managed to catch Alec’s attention and he looked to her, somehow she was still smiling. 

Alec couldn’t stand still, he was fidgeting so much, “I can’t breath.” He told her, fighting the urge to pull of his bow tie and jacket. 

“I know, it’s okay.” That didn’t calm Alec down. What was he going to do? He couldn’t leave Lydia at the alter. He had to marry her for his family. 

But there was that gorgeous and wonderful man, patiently waiting in the aisle. Waiting to see if Alec was going to love him...or ruin him. He’d put everything on the line. Alec suddenly had a painful sense of everything that Magnus was risking by doing this. 

“He came for you, Alec. Are you just gonna let him stand there?”

“Lydia, I-I can’t. I don’t know...” She brought her hand up to caress his cheek,

“You know, Alec.” And he did. He didn’t want to get married and neither did Lydia. Why did he think he had to do this just for his family? It was time to do something for them. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for going through with all of this. I thought we were doing the right thing but this isn’t it.”

“You don’t have to explain, I understand.” She fixed him with an intense stare, “You deserve to be happy, okay. I’ll be fine.”

“You-you deserve to be happy too. Go, find John. Don’t let him leave again.”

“I won’t.” Lydia pulled Alec into a hug, “Now, go get him, tiger.” She winked and pushed Alec towards the stairs. He almost slipped, but thankfully caught himself just in time to avoid that disaster.

He had forgotten the room of people staring at him. He almost lost his nerve. These were, mostly, the most important people in the world to him. It didn’t matter, if they thought less of him for his choice then then shouldn’t be so important. He could do this. 

Screw the cameras, screw the people watching, but most of all...screw Maryse. He didn’t care what she wanted for him anymore. 

With a new sense of his own determination, Alec walked back down the aisle. Magnus’ face was carefully blank. 

Maryse’s eyes widened and she hurried back to him. 

“Alec, what are you doing-”

“Enough.” He silenced her with a single word. He just didn’t care. He was so close to Magnus now. 

He saw Magnus almost take a hesitant step backwards, maybe he was walking too fast? Maybe it looked like he was going to hit him or ask him to leave. As if he could. He was glad that Magnus decided to stand his ground instead of moving away. It made things much easier. 

As soon as Alec was with reach, he grabbed both lapels of Magnus’ jacket and smashed their mouths together. 

Magnus was frozen in shock for a moment, he had never expected this to actually happen when he came. 

Alec’s stomach started doing flips when Magnus started to kiss him back. It was without a doubt the best kiss he had ever had. 

Admittedly, he hadn’t had that many, but there was definitely no contest. 

Alec had to pull back, he still hadn’t quite caught his breath. Magnus chased straight after him for more, but stopped himself. Alec’s heart jolted, Magnus was giving him space. Letting him decide what he wanted. To decide if this was a mistake...

Well it wasn’t. Alec let Magnus have what he wanted and leaned down to kiss him again. 

There were people murmuring all around them, but they were happy to ignore them for the time being. 

When the time came for them to break apart, Alec still didn’t want to move away from this wonderful man, so he didn’t, and kept standing close to him. 

“You never cease to amaze me, Alec.”

“Yeah...” Magnus was smiling. He was so handsome. How had Alec managed to resist him for this long? He wanted so badly to pull Magnus into his arms and kiss him again, when suddenly he remembered exactly where he was. 

Looking up, he saw his mother. She was beyond angry. This was the worst look Alec had ever seen directed at him. He was relieved when it didn’t last long as she stormed off towards another room in the church, Robert following close behind her. 

Izzy came hurrying down the aisle to meet them, her smile lighting up her face. Lydia wasn’t far behind.

“Alec I’m so proud of you!” Izzy pulled her brother into a hug and then Magnus after. 

“I hate to break this up, but I think the police are here,” Lydia was looking past them towards the entrance of the church, where there were indeed two policemen. 

“I’m about to get arrested, aren’t I?” Magnus asked no one in particular, “Oh well, at least it was for a good cause.” The police were heading towards them. 

“No,” Alec said, grabbing Magnus’ wrist, “They can’t arrest you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“My dear Alexander, I caused a disturbance to a Royal wedding. I’m actually surprised I made it as far as I did,”

“Mr Bane? You’re under arrest for causing a disturbance,” 

“Wait,” Alec interrupted, “We aren’t pressing charges. You don’t need to arrest him.”

“Sorry, we’ve heard from someone else.” Alec didn’t even need to ask. His mother. Of course.

The other police officer took out handcuffs and pulled Magnus’ hands behind his back. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll call Luke. We can sort this out,” Magnus smirked at Alec,

“Oh I’m not worried darling,” Alec couldn’t help but smile. He stepped forward and pressed another kiss to Magnus’ lips, his hands gently caressing Magnus’ cheeks. 

It lasted barely a few seconds before the police officer was pulling Magnus away. 

“Until later, Alexander,” Magnus called out. 

Alec let out a sigh, “Well...it could have gone worse, I guess?” Izzy laughed. 

“At least you didn’t get married.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad!” Lydia argued, sarcastically, “That being said, I’m off to find John. Wish me luck.” Izzy hugged her, and so did Alec who also kissed her cheek.

“Thank you for everything, Lyds.”

“No problem, Alec. Now, I have to run before my parents catch me!” With that, she literally ran out of the church to go and find her love. It didn’t look like she planned on changing out of her dress as she left, that would surely be a sight for people to see. And probably a bigger shock for John when she found him!

“So what are we supposed to do with all this?” Alec gestured around the room vaguely towards the guests and the people from the BBC. 

“Nothing. Let’s leave it for someone else to deal with.” 

“Alright.” He was happy to be selfish now. Even if it was just for today, “So, let’s go get Magnus out of trouble, shall we?”

“Yeah, your new boyfriend could use our help, couldn’t he?” Izzy smirked at Alec’s blush at her use of the word ‘boyfriend’. She linked their arms together and led Alec out of the church.

Not everything was perfect, and Alec knew he was going to have to face some serious backlash from his family, the public, and not to mention what his students were going to say to him, but for now he didn’t care.

He felt light, free and happier than he’d felt in a very long time. Maybe this was the happiest he had ever felt in his life. 

Now that he knew he would have Magnus by his side and his sister was more than happy for him, he could face anything that was thrown at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! This is the end! There will just be one more small epilogue after this chapter which I will post soon...ish  
> But for now I want to thank everyone who has stuck with me to the end of this story and I hope you enjoyed it!  
> And thanks to everyone who has commented and given kudos.   
> I have a few ideas for a sequel to this story, so if anyone would be interested in reading it please let me know!  
> I'm also starting a new multi-chapter story at the moment, so please keep an eye out for it!
> 
> Thanks again!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Here's a little bit of silliness to finish off this story.  
> A sequel will be coming, I'm just not sure when yet! I want to focus on some other stories for a while :)  
> Thank you again to everyone who's stuck with this story!  
> Enjoy ~~

“Aw this is so exciting! Look, it’s about to start!” Clary exclaimed. She and Simon were sat in their favourite coffee shop, Java Jones which had installed a large TV to show the Royal wedding. Students were packed on all the sofas and loitering around. 

It felt kind of exciting for them since a lot of them knew Alec and Izzy was friends with almost everyone. 

Clary felt a little put out that she wasn’t allowed to attend with Jace, but she kind of understood. She knew how snooty Jace’s mother could be sometimes. 

“Doesn’t Jace look so handsome?” Clary sighed at the TV. 

“Shouldn’t you be looking at Alec?” Simon asked, “It is his wedding after all.”

“He does look really good, too. Magnus did such a good job.”

“Yeah. Don’t you think Alec looks nervous? He looks like he could be ready to bolt at any moment.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Simon, everyone’s nervous before they get married. You know how anxious he gets, imagine how he must feel being on TV. He’ll be fine.”

Clary grabbed Simon’s arm excitedly when the wedding music started. 

“Oh, she looks so beautiful!” Clary heard one of her classmates saying as Izzy appeared on the screen. The guys sat around Meliorn all started wolf-whistling. From the way Izzy was smiling on screen, it almost seemed like she knew the effect she was causing. Which thinking about it, she probably did. Izzy knew she was gorgeous. 

The effect Izzy had on the students in the coffee shop was the exact opposite of the effect Lydia had. When Lydia walked into shot, her father by her side, everyone quietened down. She was flawless. Clary held onto Simon’s hand and they smiled at each other before paying attention to the TV once more. 

“Alec’s going to have a heart attack.” Glancing over to her right, Clary recognized a group of people she was sure were Alec’s history students. She couldn’t argue with them. Was Alec shaking? 

“He’s such a gentlemen!” Someone else called out after watching Alec offer his hand to help Lydia climb the steps.

“Shut up! He was probably told to do that!” 

Clary tuned them all out as the officiant began speaking. She smiled as she swore she could feel Alec’s impatience. She wondered if he was rolling his eyes. It was something he often did when he was running out of patience. 

Chatter had started up again, the students sharing the view that this part of the wedding was particularly boring.

Clary felt tears coming to her eyes when Lydia recited the vows after the officiant. A quick look at Simon showed he was already crying, but trying to hide it. 

“Wait, what was that?” Lydia was about to put the ring on Alec’s finger when there was a bang, “Everyone SHUT UP!” Clary didn’t care that she was yelling, they needed to be quiet so she knew what was going on. Unconsciously, she leaned closer towards the television. 

“Holy shit!” 

“Is that Magnus Bane?”

“What’s he doing?”

“Is he crashing?”

“Who is he there for?”

Clary was frozen in shock. Why was one of her best friends crashing her other best friends brothers wedding?

The camera zoomed in on Magnus’ face and then to Alec’s. 

Everyone in the coffee shop was silently watching the screen as Maryse stormed towards Magnus. 

“Did he say something about her son?”

“Was Alec cheating on Lydia with Magnus?”

“Is Alec gay?”

What on earth was happening? 

“Be quiet!” Clary shouted again. She wanted to hear what Alec and Lydia were saying to each other. 

It didn’t take long for the talking to start again once it became apparent they couldn’t hear anything clearly. 

“Why does Lydia look so happy?”

“Guys, I think Alec’s about to pass out,”

“Did she just push him down the stairs?!” The students watched with bated breath as Alec walked down the aisle, dismissed his mother, grabbed Magnus’ jacket and kissed him full on the mouth. 

Clary felt her jaw drop. She wasn’t the only one.

“What the hell?!” Oh Magnus was gonna pay _big time_. He’d never breathed a word of this to her! How could he have gotten so involved with Alec, enough to crash his wedding, and he hadn’t told her?

“Eww, that’s disgusting!” 

“Shut up! It’s hot!” 

But...Alec had been dating Lydia for so long. Clary didn’t understand. She knew Jace had mentioned a lot of family drama, but surely that couldn’t have led to a wedding?

People got married because they loved each other, didn’t they?

“Clary, we all know Magnus is bi, but what about Alec?” Simon was asking her.

“I have no idea. I thought he loved Lydia.”

“Me too. I’m so confused right now.”

“But look how happy they are.” It was true, Alec and Magnus were smiling at each other, Izzy and Jace looked beside themselves with happiness and even Lydia looked ecstatic. 

Izzy and Lydia were hurrying down the aisle. 

“Is that the police?!” 

“Holy crap they’re arresting Magnus!” The whole coffee shop was in an uproar. People Clary barely knew were demanding she call Jace, Meliorn was similarly inflicted with people telling him to call Isabelle. 

Everyone needed more information about this. 

Giving into pressure, Clary tried to call Jace’s phone but it went straight to voice mail. 

“Come on, you can see he’s a little busy right now!”

People were trying to come up with their own speculations instead, but none seemed to satisfy them. They would have to wait for the inevitable article and news stories to explain. 

And there was no way Alec wasn’t getting ambushed by them when he finally went back to his job. 

~~~

Less than two hours later, Alec was stood outside the police station with Izzy and Jace beside him. After a hasty phone call to Luke, they managed to smooth everything over. 

It helped that it was Alec and Lydia’s wedding and they didn’t want Magnus to get in any trouble over this. He was going to be released with just a warning. 

Alec’s phone beeped and he checked it to see a message from Lydia. It was a photo of her and John smiling widely at the camera. Lydia was indeed still wearing her wedding dress. Alec had never felt happier. He showed the picture to Izzy who started squealing with delight. 

“Well isn’t this a happy scene,” Magnus was slowly making his way down the steps towards the group. 

“Magnus.” Alec moved to meet him. Magnus stayed a few steps up, making him that little bit taller than Alec. 

Alec’s hands found their way to Magnus’ waist, where they gripped onto his shirt beneath his jacket. 

Izzy and Jace subtly wandered away, giving the new couple some privacy. 

Magnus brought his hands to Alec’s neck and rested their foreheads together. 

“I can’t believe you did that.” Alec told him. 

“I can’t believe it worked,” Magnus laughed, “You don’t regret it, do you?”

“Does it look like I regret it?” Alec stepped a little closer, raising his head to be able to look straight into Magnus’ eyes. 

Magnus bit his lip and shook his head.

“I’m happy you did it.” Alec’s eyes fluttered closed. He could feel Magnus’ breath ghosting over his lips just seconds before they were kissing again. 

It was so different to their first kiss, which had been all frantic passion. 

This was slower, gentler...but so much more meaningful. This kiss held all the promises of things to come for them. 

“So, what now?” Magnus asked, once their kiss ended naturally.

“How about we head back to your place, change into something comfortable and order take out?”

“That sounds amazing, Alexander.”

They flagged down a taxi and headed straight for Magnus’ flat, holding hands the whole way.


End file.
